A startup company or startup or start-up is an entrepreneurial venture or a new business in the form of a company , a partnership or temporary organization designed to search for a repeatable and scalable business model . [1] These companies, generally newly created, are innovation in a process of development , validation and research for target markets . The term became popular internationally during the dot-com bubble when a great number of dot-com companies were founded. [2] Due to this background, many consider startups to be only tech companies, but this is not always true: the essence of startups has more to do with high ambition, innovativeness, scalability and growth.