Venture Capital Funding

Course objectives and learning outcomes
Understand how venture capital helps turn ideas into scalable companies, creating value, jobs and growth.

Learn to read an investment opportunity, a pitch deck and an entrepreneurial proposal with a practical mindset.

Be able to assess deals, valuation, term sheets, negotiation, due diligence, exits and value creation.

Make the course relevant across many professional roles: founder, investor, consultant, banker, corporate innovator, accelerator or policy maker.

Entrance requirement
No formal prerequisites are required.

A basic knowledge of economics, finance, business or strategy is helpful.

Students are expected to read the materials in advance and participate actively in discussions and cases.

For SOI students, access to the course is subject to the admission and registration procedures of the School of Innovation.

Contents
Session 1, introduction to VC: how funds operate and how they assess companies.

Session 2, deal screening and assessment of opportunities: how to filter and select attractive deals.

Session 3, early-stage and later-stage valuation: pricing logic and “survival of the fittest”.

Session 4, due diligence, accelerators/incubators and the pitch deck: what to check before investing.

Session 5, term sheets, negotiation, CVC and exit strategies, plus value creation.

Session 6, latest VC trends, diversity, sustainability, VC as an asset class and final presentations.

Teaching and learning methods and activities
Short lectures with real cases, slides and guided discussion.

Role play and negotiation simulations.

Teamwork and final presentations.

Independent preparation of the assigned materials and cases.

Test and assessment criteria
PASS / FAIL / RITIRATO

Assessment is based on attendance and submission of the final project.

Bibliography/Study materials
No single mandatory textbook.

Main materials: course slides, cases and selected readings shared during the sessions.

Useful sources and references include CB Insights, AltAssets, EVPA, Sequoia Capital, Alpinvest and other materials indicated by the instructor.

Other information
Course language: English.

The course is designed to be useful for different profiles, not only for those aiming at VC, but also for people working in startups, consulting, banks, corporate innovation, incubators, accelerators and M&A.

Content may be updated during the course to reflect current cases, trends and tools.

The final project instructions will be provided separately.

You can contact the instructor at the following e-mail address: pablo.solerbach@unitn.it

Dates