An overview of the most common venture financing instruments used in a startup's capital raising lifecycle. This Practice Note examines seed-round investments by friends and family or high-net-worth angel investors in common stock, preferred stock, convertible notes, and simple agreements for future equity (SAFEs). It discusses a startup's first institutional round of financing (the Series A round), typically led by an early-stage venture capital (VC) fund or group of super-angels. It also discusses investments by institutional VC funds in later financing rounds (the Series B and Series C rounds) and by growth-focused private equity funds (typically, the Series D and Series E rounds). In addition, this Note discusses later-stage bridge financings and venture debt.