Startups & Venture | Counsel for Emerging Companies and Startups

With several entrepreneurs in our ranks, we understand what goes into building a business. It’s much more than turning an idea into revenues. It takes preparation, planning, sacrifice, and adaptability. And once you’ve given everything you have, occasionally the tide changes and you have to re-think your entire strategy. With hundreds of successful startups as clients, we thrive on turning an initial consultation into a successful, long-term relationship.

The Vela Wood legal staff is Carta Certified at the Proficient through Expert levels and is able to assist with your cap table needs.

Select Transactions

Have facilitated over 750 venture transactions ranging from $250k pre-Seed rounds through Series D financings, representing over $2.1B in transaction value
In 2024, facilitated over 71 venture financings ranging from pre-seed Safe rounds through Series D equity financings
In 2024, facilitated over $112M in exits

VW Resources

Resources

Venture Deals Reports

To provide analysis on early-stage venture financing in Texas, we have reviewed our venture transactions on a year-by-year basis.

EXPLORE REPORTS

Resources

Pro Forma Model

VW is happy to offer our Pro Forma Model for companies raising capital to provide to investors. The model allows you to see the effects of dilution after a Safe and equity round, or a Safe and two equity rounds.

Make sure to read through the instructions tab first. Then to use the model, create a copy of the sheet and input your information into the blue cells.

USE MODEL

Resources

Early-Stage Fund Contact List

This list includes early-stage venture funds as well as VCs focused on construction and tech, CPGs, gaming, and minorities.

If something needs to be updated, or you are a fund that wants to be added, please email us at fundupdate@velawood.com.

EXPLORE LIST

Resources

Equity Incentive Plan & Incentive Unit Plan FAQs

Equity Incentive Plans (EIP), used in corporations, and Incentive Unit Plans (IUP), used in LLCs, are plans that allocate shares or membership units, respectively, for issuance to service providers as equity compensation. If you’re considering setting up an EIP or IUP for your company, check out the FAQs below!

VIEW EIP FAQS

VIEW IUP FAQS

Resources

Venture Glossary

Welcome to Venture Glossary™, where we arm you with the venture startup terminology tools you need.

Visit the Glossary

Resources

Select Offering Exemptions Chart

Here is a guide identifying some of the requirements, limitations, and advantages of a few federal exemptions available to small businesses raising capital.

Resources

Early Stage Lifecycle

Wondering if your startup is where it should be? This infographic will walk you through the five stages a startup goes through and give you an idea of where you should be when it comes to your startup’s product, funding, marketing, revenues, legal work, and more.

External Resources

Blogs

Books

Venture Deals: Be Smarter Than Your Lawyer and Venture Capitalist
The founders and driving force behind the Foundry Group―a venture capital firm focused on investing in early-stage information technology companies―Brad and Jason have been involved in hundreds of venture capital financings. Their investments range from small startups to large Series A venture financing rounds. The new edition of Venture Deals continues to show fledgling entrepreneurs the inner-workings of the VC process, from the venture capital term sheet and effective negotiating strategies to the initial seed and the later stages of development.

Newsletters

Pitch Decks

Podcasts

Startup Docs

Reports

Texas Angel Networks

Tools

Other Resources

Recent Related Blog Posts

Funding & Capital Raising

QSBS Planning for S Corps Under Section 1202

Many early-stage companies elect S corporation status to take advantage of the favorable tax treatment. However, as companies scale and plan for funding or an eventual exit, they often convert to a C corporation to qualify for the QSBS exclusion under Section 1202. This article explains the challenges S corporations face when looking to convert, and outlines the strategies that can help founders satisfy the requirements under Section 1202 and preserve eligibility for the tax exclusion at exit.

Funding & Capital Raising

Preferred Economics in Venture Transactions

Venture financing isn’t just about valuation—it’s about how the deal is structured. Liquidation preferences and participation rights can dramatically impact founder payouts and investor returns in an exit. This article breaks down the most common preference structures, from 1x non-participating to capped participation, and explores how seniority and stacking work across multiple rounds.

Funding & Capital Raising

QSBS Expansion – What You Need to Know

Congress made major changes to QSBS, expanding who qualifies and how much gain can be excluded. The asset cap rose to $75 million, and investors can now exclude up to $15 million or 10× their basis—whichever is greater. Shorter holding periods also now qualify for partial tax breaks. These changes open the door for both investors and companies to benefit from this powerful tax incentive.

View All

How We’ve Helped Our Clients

NoiseAware Inc.

NoiseAware offers state of the art noise monitoring solutions for the short-term rental industry. NoiseAware has evolved over the past several years into a global leader in hardware and software solutions for individual and professional property managers alike. Vela Wood […]

SignEasy

SignEasy is a global leader in the electronic signature space and is trusted by over 35,000 companies worldwide and processes millions of signatures each year. SignEasy has been a Vela Wood client for over 10 years, and during that time […]

Build With Robots

Build With Robots is a New Mexico-based tech company that designs and builds robotics to perform dangerous, repetitive tasks. Build With Robots’ technology is not designed to replace people’s jobs – their goals are to make workers lives easier and […]

Apptopia

Boston based Apptopia is a data intelligence platform that enables brands to analyze critical competitive signals and gain insights across mobile apps and connected devices. Apptopia customers include some of the best known brands in the world, including Zoom, Target, […]

Telos Health Solution

Telos provides technology solutions that deliver real-time patient measure updates and intuitive care coordination workflows that enhance community care providers’ ability to make timely value-based care decisions. Telos came to VW after a year of operations and VW helped Telos […]

View All Case Studies

Podcasts