A club deal is a financing where multiple investors participate together without a single dominant lead, sharing risk and influence across the round. Participants are typically institutional venture firms or large angels, with each taking a smaller piece of the round and the role of "lead" being shared or absent entirely. It is distinct from traditional venture rounds (clear single lead taking 50%+ of round) and from party rounds (many small investors with no lead). Club deals are common at very-large rounds (Series D+) and at certain growth-stage deals where multiple investors want to participate without one dominating.
The structure:
Multiple institutional investors: typically 2-5 firms participating together.
No single dominant...