Sven Illing is a business developer, adviser and investor working with hi-tech companies. In his lecture he gave an overview of the topic, drawing examples from his personal experiences. The talk touched upon the following topics: • Overview of the venture capital industry in Europe and the U.S.; • Early stage financing options for start-ups, including start up accelerators; • Practical steps in the capital raising process. Sven Illing is a startup adviser and investor through iCapital and startup accelerators GameFounders and Buildit. During last 10 years he has helped 100+ teams with advice & contacts and invested in 37 startups.