Individuals and companies must typically have an active credit history to obtain debt capital. To do this properly, the owner loans his business the money and pays himself back over time. In the United States, banks are required to hold a specified amount of capital as a risk mitigation requirement sometimes called economic capital as directed by the central banks and banking regulations. Understanding Startup Capital Startup capital is money invested to launch a new business. Be the professional who’s worthy of hundreds of thousands, if not millions of dollars, in capital investment for your company. Companies use capital to invest in all kinds of things for the purpose of creating value for a firm.