Venture capital is high-risk financing targeted towards high-growth startups and businesses, with investment horizons typically between 3-7 years provided as equity or occasionally debt. Venture capital involves seed/angel stage investments in pre-revenue companies, early stage investments in companies with proof of concept and initial revenues, and growth stage investments in businesses exhibiting revenue growth momentum with revenues of $5-10 million. Google is cited as one of the most successful early stage investments, returning over 1000x to its original angel investors.