NVCA FORMS: What Are They and Why Should You Care?
The Nation Venture Capital Association, an organization comprised of members representing both the interests of startups and venture capital firms (NVCA), first developed the suite of agreements commonly referred to as the “NVCA model legal documents” over a decade ago and have since adopted revised forms to reflect both changes in legislation and trends in the emerging company ecosystem. What hasn’t changed is the basic format substantive content of each of the following five primary documents: (1) Amended and Restated Certificate of Incorporation; (2) Stock Purchase Agreement; (3) Investors’ Rights Agreement; (4) Voting Agreement; and (5) Right of First Refusal and Co-Sale Agreement. Below is a relatively high-level summary of the NVCA documents and is not intended to capture the entire universe of provisions and issues addressed by the full text of such documents.