A friends and family round is the earliest informal funding stage where founders raise from their personal network at pre-seed amounts. Sometimes called an "F&F round" or "love money round," it covers parents, siblings, college friends, former colleagues, mentors, and extended family, typically $10,000 to $250,000 total across 3 to 15 individuals. The capital funds initial company formation, MVP development, and first few months of operations before the company is ready to approach professional investors. It is one of the most-common funding sources for first-time founders and one of the most-emotionally-loaded because the relationships at stake aren't transactional.
The typical structure: check sizes of $5K-$5...