Facing rising borrowing costs for its public debt, and damage to its credit score, Spain can ill-afford to raise the money its banks need to meet Europe-wide capital requirements.

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According to George Overholser of Non-Profit Finance Fund Capital Partners, who helped to raise the money, this is only the first of many private placements of donor capital for non-profits.

ECONOMIST: Virtue's intermediaries

All in all, the general trends captured in the Cooley dataset are positive, and bode well for venture and for startups trying to raise money at a reasonable cost-of-capital.

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Sometimes paradoxically in the Venture Capital start-up world, it is easier to raise money than to execute a strategy, specifically in achieving victory as the top firm globally in terms of subscribers and market share (in hyper-growth, revenues and profitability stand behind world domination).

FORBES: The Japan Market and the Dilemma of the Global Hyper-Growth Start-Up

But capital is expensive for banks to raise - because it is the money that is (in theory) most in danger of being lost when times are hard.

BBC: Have regulators deepened the recession?

Yes, it is difficult to raise money as a start-up, especially if the business is capital hungry, and state regulations can sometimes be stifling, time consuming and expensive to comply with.

ECONOMIST: On population growth, the Nobel peace prize, business in India, Edward Lear, Chinese texts, weather and economics, blondes, mind-reading | The

On the whole, women make up 10 percent of the founders of high-growth tech companies but manage to raise 70 percent less money than men because they cannot access capital, according to Lesa Mitchell, a department vice president at Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation, as reported in the New York Times in June, 2012.

FORBES: Overcoming Bias: Simple Advice for Women Raising Money

" Says GEM chairman Lo Ka-shui: "Although the amount of money companies can raise is small, they can still raise capital.

CNN: World's Worst Bourse?

Cost-of-capital: Sinai says that when stocks are up, companies can raise the same amount of money by selling fewer shares, which makes it easier to fund expansion.

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And as capital markets become more integrated and liquid, it is easier for single-country firms to raise money by selling bonds or shares.

ECONOMIST: Worldbeater, Inc