Secondary investments are commonplace in the world of private equity and venture capital. These are essentially transactions in which an investor buys shares of a company from an existing investor, rather than new shares issued by the company. In a secondary investment, the money goes to the investor who is selling his shares, not to the company. Secondaries help early investors exit startups and help large investors get a company's shares even when the company does not want to raise money. Early investors can make lucrative exits from secondaries when they have entered at a low valuation, and sell their shares to the new investor at a higher valuation.