Angel Investor:
An angel investor or angel (also known as a business angel or informal investor) is an affluent individual who provides capital for a business start-up, usually in exchange for convertible debt or ownership equity. A small but increasing number of angel investors organize themselves into angel groups or angel networks to share research and pool their investment capital.  Wikipedia

Beta Testing:
Once a company's 'prototype' is functioning successfully, it is tested by a number of experts before the product is placed on the commercial market.

Bridging Finance:
A limited amount of equity or short-term debt financing typically raised within six to 18 months of an anticipated public offering or private placement. Its intended purpose is to "bridge" a company to the next round of financing.

Captive Funds:
A venture capital firm owned by a larger financial institution, such as a bank.

Due Diligence:
The process of in-depth investigation where a VC firm conducts research before it makes a final decision about going forward.

Early Stage:
A company which typically has completed its seed stage and has a founding or core senior management team, has proven its concept or completed its beta test, but which has minimal revenues and no positive earnings or cash flows.

Exit Strategy:
A VC fund's intended method for liquidating its holdings while achieving the maximum possible return. The strategy depends on the exit climate, including market conditions and industry trends. Exit strategies can include selling or distributing the portfolio company's shares after an initial public offering (IPO), a sale of the portfolio company or a recapitalisation.

General Partner (GP):
The partner in a limited partnership responsible for all management decisions of the partnership. The GP has a fiduciary responsibility to act for the benefit of the limited partners (LPs) and is fully liable for its actions.

Hurdle Rate:
Is the minimum rate of return on a project a manager or company is willing to accept before starting a project, given its risk and the opportunity cost of forgoing other projects. A synonym seen in many contexts is minimum attractive rate of return.  Wikipedia

IPO (Initial Public Offering)
Initial public offering (IPO), also referred to simply as a public offering or flotation, is when a company issues common stock or shares to the public for the first time. They are often issued by smaller, younger companies seeking capital to expand, but can also be done by large privately-owned companies looking to become publicly traded. Wikipedia

IRR (Internal Rate of Return):
A typical measure of how VC Funds measure performance. IRR is technically a discount rate - the rate at which the present value of a series of investments is equal to the present value of the returns on those investments.

The internal rate of return (IRR) is a capital budgeting metric used by VC to decide whether they should make investments. It is also called rate of return (ROR) It is an indicator of the efficiency or quality of an investment, as opposed to net present value (NPV), which indicates value or magnitude.

The IRR is the annualized effective compounded return rate which can be earned on the invested capital, i.e., the yield on the investment.  Wikipedia

Limited Partner (LP):
An investor in a limited partnership that has no voice in the management of the partnership. LP's have limited liability and usually have priority over GP's upon liquidation of the partnership.

LPs have limited liability, meaning they are only liable on debts incurred by the firm to the extent of their registered investment and have no management authority. The GPs pay the LPs a return on their investment (similar to a dividend), the nature and extent of which is usually defined in the partnership agreement.  Wikipedia

Management Buy-Out (MBO):
A venture capital or private equity firm will often provide funding to enable current operating management to acquire or to buy at least 50 percent of the business they manage. In return, the private equity firm usually receives a stake in the business.  Wikipedia

Management Fee:
A Management fee is a periodic payment that is paid by investors in a pooled investment fund to the fund's investment adviser for investment and portfolio management services.  Wikipedia

NDA (Non-disclosure agreement):
An agreement issued by entrepreneurs to potential investors to protect the confidentiality of their ideas when disclosing those ideas to third parties.  Wikipedia

Private Equity:
In finance, private equity is an asset class consisting of equity securities in operating companies that are not publicly traded on a stock exchange.. Private equities are generally illiquid and viewed as a long-term investment. As they are not listed on an exchange, any investor wishing to sell securities in private companies must find a buyer in the absence of a marketplace. In South Africa, venture capital falls under the wider industry term, private equity.

Seed Money:
The first round of capital for a start-up business. Seed money usually takes the structure of a loan or an investment in preferred shares or convertible bonds, although sometimes it is ordinary shares. Seed money provides startup companies with the capital required for their initial development and growth. Angel investors and early-stage venture capital funds often provide seed money.  Wikipedia

Venture Capital Financing:
An investment in a start-up business that is perceived to have excellent growth prospects but does not have access to external capital.  Wikipedia