Startup money comes from seven places: your own savings, revenue, friends and family, loans, grants, crowdfunding, and investors (angels and venture capital). Each one has a price. Loans must be repaid, grants come with rules and deadlines, and investors take shares. The first version of a software product often costs $5,000 to $15,000, so it can usually be paid for from the cheaper sources. Investors make more sense once you need money to grow something that already works.
This guide is general information. It is not investment, legal or tax advice, and the rules for each scheme are on the official pages we link.
You give something in return for money. With a loan, it’s a promise to repay with interest. With a grant, it’s a promise to do the work you described and report on it. With equity, it’s a share of the company and often some say in how it is run. Each round sells a slice of the company at a higher price than the last, if things go well.
Median round sizes and the time between rounds for 2026 are in our guide to the size and timing of investment rounds.
| Source | Typical use | What you give up | Published limit |
|---|---|---|---|
| Savings and revenue | First version, first customers | Nothing but your own risk | None |
| Friends and family | First version | A loan, shares or both, plus the relationship | None |
| SBA loans (US) | Equipment, working capital | Repayment with interest, whatever happens to the product | 7(a) loans up to $5 million; microloans up to $50,000 |
| EIC Accelerator (EU) | A product past the prototype stage | The work plan you proposed, done within 24 months; the equity part takes shares | Grant below €2.5 million, equity up to €10 million |
| SEIS (UK) | Early angel rounds | Shares, sold to investors who get tax relief | Up to £250,000 per company |
| Regulation Crowdfunding (US) | A round from customers and fans | Shares or notes, public disclosure | $5 million in 12 months |
| Angels and venture capital | Growth once the product works | Shares, often a board seat and investor rights | None |
Paying for the first version yourself keeps every share. It works when the first version is small. Our project estimate shows how many customers pay for the build, which tells you whether revenue can fund the next step.
Here is an example run of our estimate’s math with sample inputs for an e-commerce store and app: catalogue, cart, checkout and an orders admin. The inputs are assumptions. Only the arithmetic is ours.
| Starting number (assumption) | Value | Result | Value |
|---|---|---|---|
| Spend a month per customer | $45 | Profit a month | $16 |
| Margin | 35% | Lifetime value | $160 |
| Months a customer buys | 10 | Left per customer | $135 |
| Cost to win a customer | $25 | Customers who pay for the build | 68 |
| New customers a month | 200 | Payback month | 4 |
| Build cost (middle of a $5,900-12,300 range, 5 weeks) | $9,100 |
With numbers like these, revenue pays for the build in months. If your own numbers look like this, you may not need an investor yet. If they don’t, you know what to fix first.
This money is fast and flexible, and it puts relationships at risk. Write the terms down: is it a loan, a gift or shares? A signed note now prevents an argument later, and later investors will ask about it.
In the US, the Small Business Administration backs loans made by banks. The SBA 7(a) loan goes up to $5 million and can pay for working capital, equipment and refinancing. SBA microloans go up to $50,000. A loan doesn’t take shares, but you repay it whether the product works or not. It suits a business that already has income more than an idea.
Grants don’t take shares or need repaying, but they are slow and competitive, and you must do the work you proposed.
In the EU, the EIC Accelerator offers a grant below €2.5 million for work to be completed within 24 months, plus equity of up to €10 million. It is for start-ups and small companies in EU member states and associated countries, and UK applicants can apply only for the grant. Full proposals in 2026 had cut-off dates on 7 January, 4 March, 6 May, 8 July, 2 September and 4 November.
In the UK, the Seed Enterprise Investment Scheme isn’t a grant. It lets a young company raise up to £250,000 from investors who get tax relief, which makes a first angel round easier to close. The company must have fewer than 25 full-time staff and gross assets of £350,000 or less when it issues the shares.
Under the SEC’s Regulation Crowdfunding, a US company can raise up to $5 million in 12 months from the public. Every deal has to run online through an SEC-registered broker-dealer or funding portal. The rules cap how much each non-accredited investor can put in. It works best when you already have customers or an audience who want to own a piece.
Angels are individuals who invest their own money, often in the first rounds. Accelerators give a small amount of money plus a programme in return for shares. Y Combinator’s standard deal, for example, is $500,000 per company; the details are in our rounds guide.
Venture funds invest other people’s money and need a few companies to return the whole fund, so they back products that can grow very large. In 2026, the money is concentrated. An estimated 8,625 US companies raised their first venture round through the third quarter, a record. Yet more than 80% of the venture money invested in the first nine months went to AI companies, according to PitchBook data cited in the PitchBook-NVCA Venture Monitor for Q3 2026.
Some vendors will build a product for you and charge a subscription instead of a build fee. Our SaaS development page offers this: we pay for the build and keep the code and the IP, and you pay a subscription or for what you use. The trade-off: you can’t sell that product, raise money on it or hand it to another team. If investors will ask who owns the code, pay for the build and own it from day one.
Start from the price of the next step, not from the money on offer. Across 95 agencies, the median published MVP starting price is $13,234 (Rocketech MVP Price Index 2026, H2 edition). With us, a typical MVP costs $5,000 to $15,000 and takes 2 to 4 weeks. A sum like that can come from savings, revenue, friends and family or a small loan. Giving up shares for it is expensive.
For market size, the estimate suggests customer groups and gives each a TAM, SAM and SOM with a note on what the number covers. Treat them as hypotheses to test, not verified demand. You can get a free project estimate in about four minutes. It is a planning range, not a fixed quote.
Our post on what to spend your first money on covers the order. Our page on software development for startups shows the work and the price at each stage.
Savings, revenue, friends and family, loans, grants and public schemes, crowdfunding, and investors (angels and venture capital). Each costs something different: interest, reporting duties or shares. This is general information, not investment advice.
Usually your own savings or early revenue, because you keep every share. A first version often costs $5,000 to $15,000 with us and takes 2 to 4 weeks, which is within reach of savings, friends and family or a small loan.
Up to $5 million in 12 months under the SEC’s Regulation Crowdfunding, online through an SEC-registered broker-dealer or funding portal. The rules also cap how much each non-accredited investor can put in.
Yes. The EU’s EIC Accelerator offers a grant below €2.5 million plus equity of up to €10 million for start-ups and small companies in the EU and associated countries. Check the official page for eligibility and the next cut-off date.
When you need money to grow something that already works and the market is big enough for a fund’s return. Venture money in 2026 is concentrated: more than 80% of it went to AI companies in the first nine months, according to PitchBook data.
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