Private Equity and Venture Capital (Coursera)

Offered by Università Bocconi,
Private Equity and Venture Capital (Coursera)

The course deals with the analysis of the private equity and venture capital business. Over the course, students will be provided with a deep understanding of the mechanism underpinning the creation and/or development of a firm and the financial support it can get from the financial system through venture capital investment. The course tries to discover how special financial intermediaries (called private equity investors) finance through equity companies belonging to different stages of their life-cycle, starting from the very beginning (startup and early stage) to a more mature phase (i.e. expansion, mature age, etc.) or also staying into crises and decline.

Class Deals by MOOC List - Click here and see Coursera's Active Discounts, Deals, and Promo Codes.

Private equity (named venture capital when the company is in the first phases of its life cycle) deals with very different activities, such as scouting, advisory, deal-making, valuation, and financing as financial intermediaries see it. The course also provides the opportunity to gain experience with the world of VC investments through the use of an exclusive simulator.
Throughout the course, guest speakers and practitioners will be interviewed to provide some examples of concrete applications of the contents presented.

Syllabus

WEEK 1: Introduction to Private Equity and Venture Capital
WEEK 2: Discovering Private Equity Investors: Legal Issues and Taxation
WEEK 3: Management of Private Equity and Venture Capital Funds
WEEK 4: Company Valuation And Deal Making In Private Equity Settings
WEEK 5: SMARTstart: advanced startup simulator

Go to Class
MOOC List is learner-supported. When you buy through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission.

Related Courses

Interest Rate Models (Coursera) Coursera
École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne

Interest Rate Models (Coursera)

This course gives you an easy introduction to interest rates and related contracts. These include the LIBOR, bonds, forward rate agreements, swaps, interest rate futures, caps, floors, and swaptions. We will learn how to apply the basic tools duration and convexity for managing the interest rate risk of a bond portfolio. We will gain practice in estimating the term structure from market data. We will learn the basic facts from stochastic calculus that will enable you to engineer a large variety of stochastic interest rate models. In this context, we will also review the arbitrage pricing theorem that provides the foundation for pricing financial derivatives.

Jul 27th 2026
5-12 Weeks
Value Investing Strategies (Coursera) Coursera
Starweaver

Value Investing Strategies (Coursera)

This foundational course introduces and illustrates the components of total investors’ returns, and how to apply balanced value investing strategies to optimize total risk and returns for investors in equity. It explains and illustrates intrinsic valuation techniques including earnings and EBITA (or EBITDA) multiples valuation, the dividend valuation model (DVM), and discounted cash flow (DCF). It also discusses and illustrates net assets valuation, market-to-book ratios (MBR), portfolio construction, and qualitative and behavioral success factors including client relationship management.

Aug 3rd 2026
1 Week
Finance of Mergers and Acquisitions: Designing an M&A Deal (Coursera) Coursera
University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

Finance of Mergers and Acquisitions: Designing an M&A Deal (Coursera)

This course focuses on the theory and practice of mergers and acquisitions (M&A), with a focus on the Finance. The Finance of M&A uses tools from different areas of Finance to help managers and investment bankers design successful M&A deals. In particular, we will learn to value and price M&A deals and how to choose the optimal financing mix for an M&A deal. The course focuses on all the major types of M&A deals including strategic M&A, private equity leveraged buyouts (LBOs), and restructuring deals such spinoffs and asset transfers.

Aug 10th 2026
4 Weeks
Banking and Financial Institutions (Coursera) Coursera
University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

Banking and Financial Institutions (Coursera)

The purpose of this course is to provide you with a basic understanding of the connections between money, the financial system, and the broader macroeconomy. We will examine the economics of modern financial institutions (e.g. banks), including how they are organized, the products and financial services they offer, the risks they take, why and how they are regulated, and how this has changed over time.

Aug 3rd 2026
4 Weeks
Financing and Investing in Infrastructure (Coursera) Coursera
Università Bocconi

Financing and Investing in Infrastructure (Coursera)

Learn how debt and equity can be used to finance infrastructure investments and how investors approach infrastructure investments. The course focuses on how private investors approach infrastructure projects from the standpoint of equity, debt, and hybrid instruments. The course concentrates on the practical aspects of project finance: the most frequently used financial techniques for infrastructure investments. The repeated use of real life examples and case studies will allow students to link the theoretical background to actual business practices.

Jul 27th 2026
5-12 Weeks
Alternative Approaches to Valuation and Investment (Coursera) Coursera
University of Melbourne

Alternative Approaches to Valuation and Investment (Coursera)

In this course, participants will develop an understanding of the intuitive foundations of asset and investment valuation, and how alternative valuation techniques may be used in practice. This is part of a Specialization in corporate finance created in partnership between the University of Melbourne and Bank of New York Mellon (BNY Mellon).

Jul 27th 2026
4 Weeks
Principles of Sustainable Finance (Coursera) Coursera
Erasmus University Rotterdam

Principles of Sustainable Finance (Coursera)

Finance is widely seen as an obstacle to a better world. Principles of Sustainable Finance explains how the financial sector can be mobilized to counter this. Using finance as a means to achieve social goals we can divert the planet and its economy from its current path to a world that is sustainable for all. Throughout this course, you will learn about the UN Sustainable Development Goals, how social and environmental factors should not be regarded as externalities, you will learn more about sustainable banking and asset management, about effective engagement, sustainable scenario analysis and long-term value creation.

Aug 3rd 2026
5-12 Weeks
Finance for Non-Financial Managers (Coursera) Coursera
Emory University

Finance for Non-Financial Managers (Coursera)

Finance is for “Non-financial Managers” who want to understand key financial principles and apply them in a real-world context. Over the course of the program window, you will work your way through a series of nine modules that move from understanding basic financial principles to applying financial analysis and ratios to drive decisions.

Jul 27th 2026
5-12 Weeks
Fundamentals of Finance (Coursera) Coursera
University of Pennsylvania

Fundamentals of Finance (Coursera)

In this course, you’ll learn the basic fundamentals of corporate finance. Based on the pre-term qualifying courses for Wharton MBA students, Professor Jessica Wachter has designed this course for learners who need a refresher in financial concepts, or for those who are learning about corporate finance for the first time. You’ll identify foundational concepts in corporate finance, such as NPV, Compound and Simple Interest, and Annuities versus Perpetuities.

Aug 10th 2026
5-12 Weeks
Global Systemic Risk (Coursera) Coursera
Princeton University

Global Systemic Risk (Coursera)

What is globalization and how does it work? How can we understand the process as a whole? How are the parts of the world linked? What are the risks of living in a world where “no one is in charge”? This course introduces students to systems thinking, network theory, and risk analysis and uses these tools to better understand the process of globalization. Focusing on trade, finance, and epidemiology, it analyzes potential challenges to the current global order.

Aug 3rd 2026
5-12 Weeks
Finance for Managers (Coursera) Coursera
IESE Business School

Finance for Managers (Coursera)

When it comes to numbers, there is always more than meets the eye. In operational finance, you will learn how to read the “story” that the balance sheet and income statement tells about the company’s operations. The insights you gain from this “financial story” will then become a tool for short-term decision-making at the top management level relating to current assets, current liabilities and the management of working capital. Finally, by the end of the course you will understand the financial consequences of managerial decisions on operations, marketing, etc.

Aug 3rd 2026
4 Weeks