At present there are no specific EU level rules that facilitate fund-raising by venture capital fund managers. Venture capital is much more developed in some countries than in others but only nine Member States have put in place dedicated rules for venture capital. The remaining Member States apply general rules on company or corporate law to venture capital funds. At the European level, rules concerning Undertakings for Collective Investment in Transferable Securities seek to provide safe products for retail investors while the Alternative Investment Fund Managers Directive targets systemic risk created by complex derivatives-based investment strategies. The European Commission has now published a legislative proposal in the form of a draft Regulation which is intended to make life easier for venture capitalists to raise funds across Europe for the benefit of start-ups. If venture capital funds: (i) invest 70% of the capital committed by its sponsors into unlisted SMEs; (ii) provide equity or quasi-equity to these SMEs; and (iii) does not employ leverage (so it does not invest more capital than that committed by investors, so it is not indebted), then qualifying fund managers can raise capital under the designation “European Venture Capital Fund” across the EU.