Capital Menu

Layer	Typical Size	Timing	Dilution	Effort	Alignment
Founder funding	$0‑??	Idea → Prototype	0%	Instant	100% control
Micro‑grants & competitions	$5‑100k	Idea → MVP	0%	1‑3 mo	Mission and community based
Friends & Family SAFE	$25‑250k	Pre‑MVP	Low	Weeks	Trust capital—set clear risk
Accelerator batch	$125‑500k	MVP	6‑8%	3‑mo prog	Network & press lift
SBIR / OTA / NGO grants	$50k‑2.5M	Prototype → MVP	0%	3‑9 mo	Deep‑tech & health fit
Venture‑philanthropy funds	$250k‑$10M	Pre‑clinical → Clinical/Pilot	0–low	2‑6 mo	Mission‑aligned investment arms (often foundation‑ or patient‑community–backed; e.g., CFF, JDRF T1D Fund, RD Fund, MMRF)
Philanthropic grants / PRIs	$100k‑$5M	Pilot → Pivotal study	0–low	2‑6 mo	Funds RCTs, biomarkers, device‑drug combos
Design‑partner pre‑payments	$100k‑10M	Prototype → Pilot	0%	Deal cycle	De‑risks demand; customer skin‑in‑game
Early product revenue	Any	Post‑reg clearance / launch	0%	Market‑driven	Cheapest money available, clearest market signal – (almost) always your best option.
Angel / Pre‑seed SAFE	$250k‑2M	MVP → Early rev	10‑20% cap	4‑8+ wk	Light governance, lot of work.
Revenue‑based financing	$100k‑3M	≥$30k MRR	0%	2‑4 wk	Repay 6‑12% of top‑line.
Seed VC	$2‑3M	MVP → Early growth	15‑20%	2‑4+ mo	Board seat, prefs – be careful: might be point of no return!
Series A VC	$4‑6M	Early growth → Scale	15‑25%	3‑6+ mo	Not your company anymore
Venture debt	$1‑15M	After ≥$3M equity & 12 mo runway	<1% warrants	4‑6 wk	Be very, very careful here. Covenants can kill companies quick.
Bank LOC / SBA 7(a)	Up to $5M	Predictable cash flow	0%	4‑8 wk	Collateral & personal guarantee
Capital‑markets‑lite / crowd	Up to mid‑7 figures	Growth / community raise	High (retail cap table + fees)	2‑6 mo	Community and brand aligned; disclosure and investor‑relations burden
Employee & community ownership	Varies	Post‑PMF → Growth	Dilutive or profit‑sharing	3‑12 mo	Aligns team/community via ESOPs, co‑ops, or SPVs; governance and admin complexity
Nonprofit partnerships / social‑enterprise conversions	Varies	Post‑pilot → Growth	Governance trade‑offs, no equity	2‑6 mo	Mission‑lock IP; global access clauses

Click on any funding type above to jump to its detailed deep dive. Deep‑dive sections map to these families: Non‑dilutive / Philanthropic, Government & Multilateral, Mission‑Aligned Investors, Equity Capital Spectrum, Structured & Hybrid Equity, Credit & Debt, Capital‑Markets‑Lite & Crowd, Corporate & Strategic, Employee & Community Ownership.

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For detailed information on each funding type, see the Capital Menu Deep Dives section. Also see Capital from Customers for non‑dilutive customer capital strategies.