DPI (Distributions to Paid In)

Advanced 🚀 Startup / VC

Definition

A venture fund's multiple of return—how much capital investors have received back for every dollar they invested. The VC equivalent of 'Did we make money?'

Example Usage

Our fund's DPI is 2.5x, meaning we've returned $2.50 for every dollar invested, mostly through successful exits.

Origin

Standard private equity and venture capital performance metric

Fun Fact

The best VC firms aim for DPIs of 3x or higher; anything below 1x means the fund lost money.

Source: Venture capital performance metrics terminology

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