Investment committee (IC)

Definition

The investor group that approves or declines the equity in a deal.

Why It Matters

Every funded deal answers to one, and it is the equity side's version of the bank's loan committee: a room you are not in, deciding on a memo written by the partner who backed you. Two things follow. The calendar is real, so a partner's yes on a call is an intention and the vote is when it becomes money, which is how a financing contingency quietly runs short. And the memo is what gets judged, so what wins a vote is a clean thesis, a price the room can defend, and a diligence file it can check without calling you.

In numbers: A fund that votes on the first Tuesday of the month is a real date: sign on 5 March, two days after the 3 March vote, and the $1.4M of equity is not approved until 7 April.