Although they’re called ‘unicorns’ for their supposed rarity, there are more than you’d probably imagine—as of January 2025, there are over 1,200 unicorns globally (privately held companies valued at more than US$1 billion). Once just another unicorn, now household names—think Airbnb, Facebook, or Google.
Even the giants we know today began as early-stage startups. In this article, you’ll find everything you need to know about startup funding.
💡 Remember: Every major company started with a great idea and the right funding. Your breakthrough could be next!
Table of Contents
Types of Startup Funding
Let’s start with the basics: startup funding refers to the process of raising capital for new established businesses. It’s a key stage in a startup’s life cycle, providing the necessary resources to launch, scale, and grow the business, essential for covering initial costs, scaling operations, and achieving milestones that attract further investments.
Do you need funding for your startup? Early-stage businesses typically raise funding from a variety of sources. Here are the 6 most common types:
Angel Investors
Angel investors are usually wealthy individuals who risk their own money to invest in startups, mostly in exchange for an ownership stake or convertible debt. Angel capital typically funds activities such as prototype development, market research, and initial hiring. Angel investors play a critical role in validating the startup, providing capital to prove the concept and signaling confidence to other investors.
Angels usually have prior industry or entrepreneurial experience, offering mentorship and guidance to founders they support. Their involvement helps startups navigate early challenges and refine their strategy. Additional benefits of angel financing include:
- Invest earlier than other investors
- Faster decision-making
- Provide startup expertise
- Leverage networks to connect founders with investors, talent, and customers
🚨 Caution: Angel investors expect involvement. Choose those aligned with your startup’s vision and growth strategy.
Venture Capital
Venture capital, also known as VC, is a financial tool that helps businesses grow, offering institutional investors opportunities in emerging companies. Startups benefit by securing funding, refining business models, and exploring new markets through this short-term capital injection. VC investors typically have a strong economic focus, negotiating terms for equity in the company.
VC firms raise funds to invest in both early-stage and mature startups. They often prioritize performance metrics and financial potential when assessing investments.
👉🏻 You might also like: How venture capital funding works
Corporate Venture Capital
CVC is the practice of established companies investing in external startups to drive innovation and strategic growth. Often, startups approach these corporations to test technologies, explore joint developments, gain new customers, and secure funding.
One significant advantage of corporate venture capital is helping startups break into new markets, utilizing the corporation’s network. Additionally, startups receive support in legal advice, communications, marketing, or access to facilities tailored to specific collaboration needs.
🤝 Pro tip: Align your startup’s objectives with the strategic goals of your corporate partner to maximize mutual benefit.
Bootstrapping
Bootstrapping is a self-financing approach where entrepreneurs use personal savings, initial sales revenue, or loans without external investors. Founders retain complete control over business decisions, avoiding equity dilution.
However, bootstrapping requires careful planning, resourcefulness, and patience, potentially limiting rapid growth opportunities.
Accelerators
In short, accelerators help entrepreneurs turn their knowledge into action. These are cohort-based programs that offer mentorship, services, education, networking, and recognition to early-stage startups looking to scale their product or service quickly. They are considered a form of early-stage financing because they often provide seed funding for startups.
Crowfunding
Crowdfunding platforms let startups raise small amounts of money from many individuals, usually via online campaigns.
Backers might receive rewards, equity, or debt. These platforms allow entrepreneurs to showcase ideas to wider audiences, validate market interest, and gain early customer feedback.
📢 Quick tip: Crowdfunding is more than funding—it can validate your product and build your community from day one.
Seed Funding for Startups: Your First Step
First things first: seed funding is the initial capital an early-stage startup raises to advance toward the next growth stage. Known also as seed capital or seed money, it’s typically the first formal institutional fundraising round. Seed investors are willing to take big risks on early-stage companies for potentially high returns.
Seed funding mainly serves to validate business ideas and move towards a functioning business. Startups are considered ready for seed funding when they can demo their product, even if further development is needed to reach a minimum viable product (MVP) or proof of concept.
How to pitch the seed round?
Pitch meetings allow startups to present their business model and vision to potential investors. Crafting a compelling investor pitch is crucial during fundraising—investors see countless pitches, and few stand out. A successful pitch is clear, concise, memorable, tells a compelling story, addresses key concerns, and excites investors.
When a pitch leads to a term sheet, leverage insights from fundraising benchmarks and financial models to negotiate favorable terms. Involve legal counsel to ensure fairness and market alignment.
⚖️ Advice: Always review term sheets carefully. Good negotiations now can significantly impact your startup’s future.
Construction Industry Funding: Opportunities for Startups
According to Top 50 2025 Contech Report, the data from 2024 shows that during this last year, we witnessed the first signs of stabilization in Contech investment compared to 2023, a year in which the number of deals reached 325, marking an approximate increase of 38% compared to the 236 deals reported in 2023. The total amount invested also rose, though only by 2% compared to the previous year. The comparative data indicates that investors were significantly more active than in 2023, with a notable increase in the number of deals in early-stage startups. This highlights the untapped potential for growth in construction technology.
Here are some of the most renowned grants you can tap into to fund your startup if your solution applies to the construction industry:
- U.S. Economic Development Administration (EDA): Part of the U.S. Department of Commerce, the EDA offers ongoing grant opportunities to support projects that drive regional and national economic growth. Funding is available for a wide range of initiatives, including construction, planning, technical assistance, research, and education.
- EU Innovation Fund: One of the world’s largest funding programs for cleantech innovation. It recently awarded €173 million to 18 pioneering projects that contribute to decarbonization and support the green transition.
- U.S. Department of Energy (DOE): Through its Infrastructure Program, the DOE provides funding for transformative infrastructure and clean energy projects. Regular funding announcements cover areas like grid modernization, clean hydrogen, energy storage, and advanced manufacturing.
Cemex Ventures, Your Startup Partner
- Investing in startups can help companies tap external innovation and accelerate internal innovation efforts.
At Cemex Ventures, the corporate venture capital and open innovation arm of Cemex, we don’t just invest, we collaborate, scale, and ignite bold ideas. We back the startups reshaping construction, combining financial support with strategic muscle to turn vision into real-world impact.
Our mission? To fuel the transformation of the construction industry, making it more sustainable, efficient, agile, and future-ready. If you’re building game-changing solutions, we’re here to build with you. If you have a startup with technology that fits these characteristics and has the potential to make a game-changing impact on the construction industry, apply now for Construction Startup Competition 2025.
