Dry Powder
The capital a fund has raised but not yet invested, available for new deals and follow-ons. A measure of how much a VC can still deploy.
Why it matters
A fund's dry powder tells you whether it can lead your round and keep backing you later. When funds are flush, deals get done faster and valuations rise; when it dries up, the opposite.
For example
A fund that raised 200 crore has deployed 120 and reserved 80 for follow-ons, so it has 80 crore of dry powder left to back its winners.
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Also in Starting Up
See how founders actually handle this on Raising your first round, part of the Starting Up hub.
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