The third stage of venture capital financing which is preceded by the two stages of angel investing and seed funding. At this stage, a start-up firm should have managed to develop a viable beta-tested product. Financing at this point is used to build up the commercial scale production capability and the company begins alpha testing which involves the trial of the improved prototype of the product/service with prospective end users, whether for a price or fee. At this stage, the company is a going concern with an initial or full-fledged management staff. The typical amount of financing required as capital is $3 million at least.