Deal flow

Deal flow is a term used by finance professionals such as venture capitalists, angel investors, private equity investors and investment bankers to refer to the rate at which they receive business proposals/investment offers. The term is also used not as a measure of rate, but simply to refer to the stream of offers or opportunities as a collective whole. An organization's deal flow is considered "good" if it results in enough revenue- or equity-generating opportunities to keep the organization functioning at peak capacity. For private consultants to high and ultra high net worth individuals, deal flow is called deal generation, which is the process of making deals with a business as the result of lead generation.

In venture capital

The most famous and successful venture capital firms regularly receive hundreds of business plans each month. From among these, it is not unusual for a VC firm to actually fund only 0.25%–0.5%. Firms will typically institute a unique approach to determining the startups they choose to fund. Active angel investment groups will typically receive dozens of plans monthly, but because of the much smaller number of plans compared to VCs they tend to fund a somewhat higher percentage. Once a company passes the group's screening process and is invited to present to the group's full membership, its chances of getting funded rise to about 18%, according to the University of New Hampshire's Center for Venture Research.