Meaning & use
raise capital
Last updated
Meaning
phrasefixed phrase
To gather money for a business or project, for example by selling shares, borrowing or finding investors.
Grammar: Verb phrase with an object built in: the firm raised capital; the tense goes on raise.
Patterns
- raise capital for something
- raise capital from someone
- raise capital by doing something
The startup raised capital from several investors last spring.
Many firms raise capital by selling shares to the public.
They need to raise capital before building a second factory.
Word forms
| third person singular | raises capital |
|---|---|
| past tense | raised capital |
| past participle | raised capital |
| -ing form | raising capital |
Common combinations
- raise capital through a share offering
- The company plans to raise capital through a share offering.
- raise capital quickly
- It is hard to raise capital quickly in a downturn.
- raise capital for expansion
- They raised capital for expansion into Asia.
- struggle to raise capital
- Small farms struggle to raise capital.
- raise venture capital
- The app maker raised venture capital in its first year.
Synonyms and how they differ
- secure funding
- Secure funding stresses getting the money agreed, whereas raise capital stresses the effort of gathering it.
- finance
- Finance as a verb means to provide the money, often by one lender, while raise capital is from the borrower's point of view.
- fundraise
- Fundraise is often used for charities and campaigns, while raise capital is for businesses.
- obtain investment
- This is more general; raise capital implies actively seeking money.
Opposites
Word family
- capital noun
- money used to start or run a business
- capitalize verb
- to provide with capital
- capitalization noun
- the total amount of a company's capital
- capitalist noun
- a person who invests money in business
Commonly confused: raise capital or raise money?
raise capital vs raise money
Raise money is the general phrase for any gathering of funds, while raise capital is specifically about investment funds for a business.
Practice
The young company is trying to ______ so it can hire more engineers.
Choose one answer.
Raise capital is the fixed phrase. Rise is intransitive and cannot take an object, and lift and grow are not used in this collocation.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “raise capital”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.