SURO CAPITAL CORP. - Annual Report: 2012 (Form 10-K)

UNITED STATES

SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION

Washington, D.C. 20549

FORM 10-K

(Mark One)

FOR THE FISCAL YEAR ENDED December 31, 2012

COMMISSION FILE NUMBER: 814-00852  

SECURITIES REGISTERED PURSUANT TO SECTION 12(b) OF THE ACT:

SECURITIES REGISTERED PURSUANT TO SECTION 12(g) OF THE ACT:

None

Indicate by check mark if the registrant is a well-known seasoned issuer, as defined in Rule 405 of the Securities Act.  YES ¨     No x

Indicate by check mark if the registrant is not required to file reports pursuant to Section 13 or Section 15(d) of the Act.  YES ¨     No x

Indicate by check mark whether the registrant (1) has filed all reports required to be filed by Section 13 or 15(d) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 during the preceding 12 months (or for such shorter periods as the registrant was required to file such reports), and (2) has been subject to such filing requirements for the past 90 days.  YES x NO ¨

Indicate by check mark whether the registrant has submitted electronically and posted on its corporate Web site, if any, every Interactive Data File required to be submitted and posted pursuant to Rule 405 of Regulation S-T during the preceding 12 months (or for such shorter period that the registrant was required to submit and post such files).  Yes ¨     No ¨

Indicate by check mark if disclosure of delinquent filers pursuant to Item 405 of Regulation S-K is not contained herein, and will not be contained, to the best of registrant’s knowledge, in definitive proxy or information statements incorporated by reference in Part III of this Form 10-K or any amendment to this Form 10-K.  ¨

Indicate by check mark whether the registrant is a large accelerated filer, an accelerated filer, a non-accelerated filer, or a smaller reporting company. See the definitions of “large accelerated filer,” “accelerated filer” and “smaller reporting company” in Rule 12b-2 of the Exchange Act. (Check one):

(Do not check if a smaller reporting company)

Indicate by check mark whether the registrant is a shell company (as defined in Rule 12b-2 of the Act)  YES ¨     NO x

The aggregate market value of common stock beneficially owned by non-affiliates of the Registrant on June 29, 2012, based on the closing price on that date of $9.30 on the NASDAQ Capital Market, was $178,734,356. For the purposes of calculating this amount only, all directors and executive officers of the Registrant have been treated as affiliates. There were 19,320,100 shares of the Registrant’s common stock outstanding as of March 12, 2013.

DOCUMENTS INCORPORATED BY REFERENCE

Portions of the registrant’s definitive Proxy Statement relating to the registrant’s 2013 Annual Meeting of Stockholders, to be filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission within 120 days following the end of the Company’s fiscal year, are incorporated by reference in Part III of this Annual Report on Form 10-K as indicated herein.

GSV CAPITAL CORP.

TABLE OF CONTENTS

PART I

GSV Capital

GSV Capital Corp. (formerly NeXt Innovation Corp., the “Company”, “we”, “our” or “GSV Capital”) is an externally managed, non-diversified closed-end management investment company that has elected to be treated as a business development company under the Investment Company Act of 1940, as amended (the “1940 Act”). Our investment objective is to maximize our portfolio’s total return, principally by seeking capital gains on our equity and equity-related investments. We invest principally in the equity securities of what we believe are rapidly growing venture capital-backed emerging companies. We acquire our investments through secondary marketplaces for private companies, negotiations with selling stockholders and direct investments with prospective portfolio companies. We may also invest on an opportunistic basis in select publicly-traded equity securities or certain non-U.S. companies that otherwise meet our investment criteria. Our investment activities are managed by GSV Asset Management, LLC (“GSV Asset Management” or “investment adviser”), and GSV Capital Service Company, LLC (“GSV Capital Service Company” or the “administrator”) provides the administrative services necessary for us to operate.

Our investment philosophy is premised on a disciplined approach of identifying potentially high-growth emerging companies across several key industry themes which may include, among others, social mobile, cloud computing and big data, internet commerce, green technology and education technology. Our investment adviser’s investment decisions are based on a disciplined analysis of available information regarding each potential portfolio company’s business operations, focusing on the company’s growth potential, the quality of recurring revenues and cash flow and cost structures, as well as an understanding of key market fundamentals. Venture capital funds or other financial or strategic sponsors have invested in many of the companies that our investment adviser evaluates.

We seek to deploy capital primarily in the form of non-controlling equity and equity-related investments, including common stock, warrants, preferred stock and similar forms of senior equity, which may or may not be convertible into a portfolio company’s common equity, and convertible debt securities with a significant equity component.

We seek to create a low-turnover portfolio that includes investments in companies representing a broad range of investment themes. As of December 31, 2012, we have completed investments in 47 companies for aggregate consideration of approximately $236.5 million (exclusive of transaction fees and costs), or 85.1% of the net proceeds from our initial public offering and subsequent follow-on offerings.

Our common stock is traded on the NASDAQ Capital Market under the symbol “GSVC”. The net asset value per share of our common stock on December 31, 2012 was $13.07. On December 31, 2012, the last reported sale price of a share of our common stock on the NASDAQ Capital Market was $8.43.

About GSV Asset Management

Our investment activities are managed by GSV Asset Management, an investment adviser registered under the Investment Advisers Act of 1940, as amended, or the “Advisers Act.” GSV Asset Management is led by Michael T. Moe, our president, chief executive officer and chairman of our board of directors. Mr. Moe is assisted by Stephen D. Bard, our chief financial officer, chief compliance officer, treasurer and corporate secretary, whom we refer to collectively as GSV Asset Management’s senior investment professionals. Mr. Moe co-founded and previously served as chairman and chief executive officer of ThinkEquity Partners, an asset management and investment banking firm focusing on venture capital, entrepreneurial and emerging private companies. Prior to founding ThinkEquity, Mr. Moe served as Head of Global Growth Research at Merrill Lynch and before that served as Head of Growth Research and Strategy at Montgomery Securities.

We believe we benefit from the ability of our investment adviser’s senior investment professionals and board of advisers (the “Advisory Board”) to identify attractive investment opportunities, conduct diligence on and value prospective investments, negotiate terms, and manage and monitor a portfolio of those investments. See “Portfolio Management — Advisory Board to GSV Asset Management.” Our investment adviser’s senior investment professionals and Advisory Board members have broad investment backgrounds, with prior experience at investment banks, commercial banks, unregistered investment funds and other financial services companies, and have collectively developed a broad network of contacts that provides us with an important source of investment opportunities.

We pay GSV Asset Management a fee for its services under the Investment Advisory Agreement consisting of two components — a base management fee and an incentive fee. See “Investment Advisory Agreement”.

Investment Opportunity

We believe that the technology industry is experiencing a convergence of numerous disruptive trends, producing new high-growth markets. The growth of both social networking and connected mobile devices, such as smartphones and tablets, has opened up new channels for communication and real-time collaboration. The number of devices and people that regularly connect to the Internet has increased dramatically in recent years, generating significant demand for always accessible, personalized and localized content and real-time online interactivity. These factors are creating opportunities for new market participants and significant growth for established companies with leading positions capitalizing on these trends.

At the same time, we believe that the initial public offering, or “IPO,” markets have experienced substantial structural changes which have made it significantly more challenging for private companies to go public. Volatile equity markets, a lack of investment research coverage for private and smaller companies and investor demand for a longer history of revenue and earnings growth have resulted in companies staying private significantly longer than in the past. In addition, increased public company compliance obligations such as those imposed by the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002 have made it more costly and less attractive to become a public company. As a result, there are significantly fewer IPOs today than there were during the 1990’s, with prospective public companies taking longer to come to market. For example, from 1991 – 2000, there were 4,361 IPOs in the United States, of which 1,701 were venture-capital backed. From 2001 – 2010, there were 1,016 IPOs, of which 369 were venture-capital backed. In 2011, there were 125 IPOs, of which 52 were venture-capital backed.

Because private companies are staying private longer, private investment in late stage companies has increased. Private secondary marketplaces, such as SharesPost and SecondMarket, have emerged as a potential alternative to traditional public equity exchanges to provide liquidity to private company stockholders, including employees, particularly within the technology sector. While such private secondary marketplaces have more limited transaction volume than public exchanges, they do provide accredited investors, such as ourselves, with new channels for access to equity investments in private companies. Such markets also provide a potential source for exiting private company investments, as well as price visibility from trading on a marketplace.

Investment Strategy

We seek to create a portfolio of potentially high-growth emerging private companies via a repeatable and disciplined investment approach, as well as to provide investors with access to such companies through our publicly traded common stock.

Our investment objective is to maximize our portfolio’s total return, principally by seeking capital gains on our equity and equity-related investments. We have adopted the following business strategies to achieve our investment objective:

We leverage a combination of our relationships throughout Silicon Valley and our independent research to identify leaders in our targeted sub-sectors that we believe are differentiated and best positioned for sustained growth. Our evaluation process is based on what we refer to as ‘‘the four Ps’’:

We consider these to be the core elements for identifying rapidly growing emerging companies.

Private secondary marketplaces and direct share purchases. We utilize private secondary marketplaces as a means to acquire equity and equity-related interests in privately-held companies that meet our investment criteria and that we believe are attractive candidates for investment. We believe that such markets offer new channels for access to equity investments in private companies and provide a potential source of liquidity should we decide to exit an investment. In addition, we also purchase shares directly from stockholders, including current or former employees. As certain companies grow and experience significant increased value while remaining private, employees and other stockholders may seek liquidity by selling shares directly to a third party or to a third party via a secondary marketplace. Sales of shares in private companies are typically restricted by contractual transfer restrictions and may be further restricted by provisions in company charter documents, investor rights of first refusal and co-sale and company employment and trading policies, which may impose strict limits on transfer. We believe that our investment professionals’ reputation within the industry and history of investing affords us a favorable position when seeking approval for a purchase of shares subject to such limitations.

Direct equity investments. We also seek direct investments in private companies. There is a large market among emerging private companies for equity capital investments. Many of these companies, particularly within the technology sector, lack the necessary cash flows to sustain substantial amounts of debt, and therefore have viewed equity capital as a more attractive long-term financing tool. We seek to be a source of such equity capital as a means of investing in these companies and look for opportunities to invest alongside other venture capital and private equity investors with whom we have established relationships.

Competitive Advantages

We believe that we will benefit from the following competitive advantages in executing our investment strategy:

Operating and Regulatory Structure

GSV Capital was formed as a Maryland corporation that is an externally managed, non-diversified closed-end management investment company. We completed our initial public offering in May 2011 and have elected to be treated as a business development company under the 1940 Act. As a business development company, we are required to meet regulatory tests, including the requirement to invest at least 70% of our gross assets in “qualifying assets.” Qualifying assets generally include, among other things, securities of “eligible portfolio companies.” “Eligible portfolio companies” generally include U.S. companies that are not investment companies and that do not have securities listed on a national exchange. If at any time less than 70% of our gross assets are comprised of qualifying assets, including as a result of an increase in the value of any non-qualifying assets or decrease in the value of any qualifying assets, we would generally not be permitted to acquire any additional non-qualifying assets until such time as 70% of our then current gross assets were comprised of qualifying assets. We would not be required, however, to dispose of any non-qualifying assets in such circumstances. See “Regulation as a Business Development Company.” In addition, we intend to elect to be treated for federal income tax purposes beginning with our 2013 taxable year, and intend to qualify annually thereafter, as a regulated investment company (“RIC”) under Subchapter M of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, as amended (the “Code”). See “Material U.S. Federal Income Tax Considerations.”

Our investment activities are managed by GSV Asset Management and supervised by our board of directors. GSV Asset Management is an investment adviser registered under the Advisers Act. Under our investment advisory agreement, which we refer to as the Investment Advisory Agreement, we have agreed to pay GSV Asset Management an annual base management fee based on our gross assets as well as an incentive fee based on our performance. See “Investment Advisory Agreement.” We have also entered into an administration agreement, which we refer to as the Administration Agreement, under which we have agreed to reimburse GSV Capital Service Company for our allocable portion of overhead and other expenses incurred.

Investment Process

Concentrated Technology-related Focus

During the course of over two decades of researching and investing in non-public companies, we have identified five areas from which we expect to see significant numbers of high-growth companies emerge: new media, communication, alternative energy, education technology, and the consumerization of information technology. These broad markets have the potential to produce disruptive technologies, reach a large addressable market and provide significant commercial opportunities. Within these areas we have identified broad trends that could create significant positive effects on growth such as globalization, consolidation, branding, convergence and network effects. From within these broad technology themes, we have selected five sub-segments in which we target companies for investment: social mobile, cloud computing and big data, internet commerce, green technology and education technology. We remain focused on selecting market leaders within the sub-segments we have identified, while continuing to review our pipeline to ensure we are tracking the next phase of leaders.

Investment Targeting and Screening

We identify prospective portfolio companies through an extensive network of relationships developed by our investment professionals, supplemented by the knowledge and relationships of our investment adviser’s Advisory Board and our board of directors. Investment opportunities that fall within our identified themes are validated against the observed behavior of leading venture capitalists and through our own internal and external research. We evaluate potential portfolio companies across a spectrum of criteria, including “the four Ps”, industry positioning and leadership, stage of growth, and several other factors that collectively characterize our proprietary investment process. We typically seek to invest approximately 90% of our portfolio in well-established, late stage companies and the remaining approximately 10% in emerging companies that fit within our targeted areas, where we see the potential for higher returns from early investment. Based on our initial screening, we identify a select set of companies which we evaluate in greater depth.

Research and Due Diligence Process

Once we identify those companies that we believe warrant more in-depth analysis, we focus on their revenue growth, revenue quality and sustainability and earnings growth, as well as other metrics that may be strongly correlated with higher valuations. We also focus on the company’s management team and any significant financial sponsor, the current business model, competitive positioning, regulatory and legal issues, the quality of any intellectual property and other investment-specific due diligence. Each prospective portfolio company that passes our initial due diligence review is given a qualitative ranking to allow us to evaluate it against others in our pipeline, and we review and update these companies on a regular basis.

Our due diligence process will vary depending on whether we are investing through a private secondary transaction on a marketplace or with a selling stockholder or by direct equity investment. We access information on our potential investments through a variety of sources, including information made available on secondary marketplaces, publications by private company research firms, industry publications, commissioned analysis by third-party research firms, and, to a limited extent, directly from the company or financial sponsor. We utilize a combination of each of these sources to help us set a target value for the companies we ultimately select for investment.

Portfolio Construction and Sourcing

Upon completion of our research and due diligence process, we select investments for inclusion in our portfolio based on their relative qualitative ranking, fundamentals and valuation. We seek to create a relatively diversified portfolio that we expect will include investments in companies representing a broad range of investment themes. We generally choose to pursue specific investments based on the availability of shares and valuation expectations. We utilize a combination of secondary marketplaces, direct purchases from stockholders and direct equity investments in order to make investments in our portfolio companies. Once we have established an initial position in a portfolio company, we may choose to increase our stake through subsequent purchases. Maintaining a balanced portfolio is a key to our success, and as a result we constantly evaluate the composition of our investments and our pipeline to ensure we are exposed to a diverse set of companies within our target segments.

Transaction Execution

We enter into purchase agreements for each of our private company portfolio investments. Private company securities are typically subject to contractual transfer limitations, which may, among other things, give the issuer, its assignees and/or its stockholders a particular period of time, often 30 days or more, in which to exercise a veto right, or a right of first refusal over, the sale of such securities. Accordingly, the purchase agreements we enter into for secondary transactions typically require the lapse or satisfaction of these rights as a condition to closing. Under these circumstances, we are may be required to deposit the purchase price into escrow upon signing with the funds released to the seller at closing or returned to us if the closing conditions are not met.

Risk Management and Monitoring

We monitor the financial trends of each portfolio company to assess our exposure to individual companies as well as to evaluate overall portfolio quality. We establish valuation targets at the portfolio level and for gross and net exposures with respect to specific companies and industries within our overall portfolio. In cases where we make a direct investment in a portfolio company, we may also obtain board positions, board observation rights and/or information rights from that portfolio company in connection with our equity investment. We regularly monitor our portfolio for compliance with the diversification requirements for purposes of maintaining our status as a 1940 Act business development company and a RIC for tax purposes.

Portfolio Overview

At December 31, 2012, our portfolio was invested approximately 54.9% in common shares, 44.8% in preferred shares, 0.2% in membership interests, and 0.1% in equity warrants. Such percentages are not inclusive of our holdings in money market funds.

Our ten largest portfolio company investments at December 31, 2012, based on the combined fair value of the equity securities we hold in each portfolio company, were as follows:

Set forth below are descriptions of the ten largest portfolio investments as of December 31, 2012:

Twitter, Inc.

Twitter is a social networking company. Twitter is a real-time information network that allows users to send and receive information.

Palantir Technologies, Inc.

Palantir solves critical intelligence and security issues for government agencies, banks, and large institutions.

Violin Memory, Inc.

Violin Memory provides scalable flash memory which improves the performance of memory on computers by reducing the power and space requirements in a data center.

Dropbox, Inc.

Dropbox is a provider of cloud storage that enables users to store and share files across the internet.

Chegg, Inc.

Chegg is an online textbook rental company with a leading market presence in the online education industry. Chegg has built a social education learning platform that assists students by providing course planning and selection services, textbooks, study materials and homework assistance.

Avenues World Holdings LLC

Avenues is a private pre-K through 12th grade school that aspires to ultimately become a single school with multiple integrated global campuses, raising the global standard for top-tier private schools.

Solexel, Inc.

Solexel is developing high-efficiency, low-cost, crystalline silicon solar cells and modules for photovoltaic electricity generation.

2U, Inc. (f/k/a 2tor, Inc.)

2U partners with universities, providing technology solutions to manage students from recruitment to post-graduation job placement, as well as develop and deliver curriculum in a virtual environment.

Kno, Inc.

Kno is a provider of education software, digital textbooks and social engagement tools for students.

Facebook, Inc.

Facebook is a leading social-networking company. Facebook’s social networking website allows users to create a personal profile, add other users to the network, and exchange messages, photographs and other information that can be shared across a network.

Managerial Assistance

As a business development company, we are required to offer, and in some cases may provide and be paid for, significant managerial assistance to portfolio companies. This assistance typically involves monitoring the operations of portfolio companies, participating in their board and management meetings, consulting with and advising their officers and providing other organizational and financial guidance.

Competition

Our primary competitors include specialty finance companies including late stage venture capital funds, private equity funds, other crossover funds, public funds investing in private companies and business development companies. Many of these entities have greater financial and managerial resources than we will have. For additional information concerning the competitive risks we face, see ‘‘Risk Factors — Risks Relating to Our Business and Structure.’’

Employees

While we have executive officers, they receive no direct compensation from us, and we have no direct employees. Our day-to-day investment operations are managed by our investment adviser. In addition, we reimburse GSV Capital Service Company for an allocable portion of expenses incurred by it in performing its obligations under the Administration Agreement, including a portion of the rent and the compensation of our chief financial officer and chief compliance officer and any administrative support personnel. See ‘‘Investment Advisory Agreement.’’

Determination of Net Asset Value

We determine the net asset value of our investment portfolio after the conclusion of each fiscal quarter in connection with the preparation of our annual and quarterly reports filed under the Exchange Act, or more frequently if required under the 1940 Act.

Securities that are publicly traded are generally valued at the close price on the valuation date; however, if they remain subject to lock-up restrictions they are discounted accordingly. Securities that are not publicly traded or for which there are no readily available market quotations, including securities that trade on secondary markets for private securities, are valued at fair value as determined in good faith by our board of directors. In connection with that determination, members of our investment adviser’s portfolio management team will prepare portfolio company valuations using the most recent portfolio company financial statements and forecasts. We also engage an independent valuation firm to perform independent valuations of our investments that are not publicly traded or for which there are no readily available market quotations. We may also engage an independent valuation firm to perform independent valuations of any securities that trade on private secondary markets, but are not otherwise publicly traded, where there is a lack of appreciable trading or a wide disparity in recently reported trades.

For those securities that are not publicly traded or for which there are no readily available market quotations, our board of directors, with the assistance of our Valuation Committee, will use the recommended valuations as prepared by management and the independent valuation firm, respectively, as a component of the foundation for its final fair value determination. Due to the uncertainty inherent in the valuation process, such estimates of fair value may differ significantly from the values that would have resulted had others made the determination using the same or different procedures or had a readily available market for the securities existed, and the differences could be material. Additionally, changes in the market environment and other events that may occur over the life of the investments may cause the gains or losses ultimately realized on these investments to be different than the gains or losses implied by the valuation currently assigned to such investments. For those investments that are publicly traded, we generally record unrealized appreciation or depreciation based on changes in the market value of the securities as of the valuation date. Publicly traded securities that remain subject to lock-up restrictions are discounted accordingly. For those investments that are not publicly traded and for which there are no readily available market quotations, we record unrealized depreciation if the underlying portfolio company has depreciated in value and our equity security has also depreciated in value, and record unrealized appreciation if the underlying portfolio company has appreciated in value and our equity security has also appreciated in value. Changes in fair value are recorded in the statement of operations as the net change in unrealized appreciation or depreciation.

We generally determine the fair value of our investments by considering a number of factors. The following represent factors that could impact our fair value determinations:

There is inherent subjectivity in determining the fair value of our investments. We expect that most of our portfolio investments, other than those for which market quotations are readily available and that may be sold without restriction, will be valued at fair value as determined in good faith by our board of directors, with the assistance of our valuation committee.

Investment Advisory Agreement

Management Services

GSV Asset Management serves as our investment adviser. GSV Asset Management is registered as an investment adviser under the Advisers Act. Subject to the overall supervision of our board of directors, GSV Asset Management manages the day-to-day operations of, and provides investment advisory services to, GSV Capital. Under the terms of the Investment Advisory Agreement, GSV Asset Management:

GSV Asset Management’s services under the Investment Advisory Agreement are not exclusive, and it is free to furnish similar services to other entities so long as its services to us are not impaired. GSV Asset Management currently serves as the investment adviser for GSV X Fund, a global long/short absolute return fund. GSV Asset Management does not anticipate that it will ordinarily identify investment opportunities that are appropriate for both GSV Capital and the other funds that are currently or in the future may be managed by GSV Asset Management. However, to the extent it does identify such opportunities, GSV Asset Management will allocate such opportunities between GSV Capital and such other funds pursuant to an established procedure that is designed to ensure that such allocation is fair and equitable.

Management Fees

We pay GSV Asset Management a fee for its services under the Investment Advisory Agreement consisting of two components — a base management fee and an incentive fee. The cost of both the base management fee payable to GSV Asset Management, and any incentive fees earned by GSV Asset Management, are ultimately borne by our common stockholders.

The base management fee (the ‘‘Base Fee’’) is calculated at an annual rate of 2.00% of our gross assets. For the period from the close of the initial public offering through and including December 31, 2011, the Base Fee was payable monthly in arrears, and was calculated based on the initial value of our assets upon the closing of our initial public offering in April 2011. For the year ended December 31, 2012, the Base Fee was payable monthly in arrears, and was calculated based on the average value of our gross assets at the end of the two most recently completed calendar quarters, and appropriately adjusted for any equity or debt capital raises, repurchases or redemptions during the current calendar quarter. The Base Fee for any partial month or quarter was appropriately pro-rated.

The incentive fee is determined and payable in arrears as of the end of each calendar year (or upon termination of the Investment Advisory Agreement, as of the termination date), and is equal to the lesser of:

Our realized capital gains from each investment, expressed as a non-compounded annual rate of return on the cost of such investment since we initially acquired it, will be compared to a hurdle rate of 8.00% per year. We will only pay an incentive fee on any realized capital gains from an investment that exceeds the hurdle rate. We will pay GSV Asset Management an incentive fee with respect to our realized capital gains from each investment as follows:

In no event, however, will we pay an incentive fee for any calendar year that exceeds 20% of our realized capital gains, if any, on a cumulative basis from inception through the end of such calendar year, computed net of all realized capital losses and unrealized capital depreciation on a cumulative basis, less the aggregate amount of any previously paid incentive fees.

The following is a graphical representation of the calculation of our incentive fee with respect to a single investment:

For accounting purposes, in order to reflect the theoretical capital gains incentive fee that would be payable for a given period as if all unrealized gains were realized, we are required to accrue a capital gains incentive fee based upon realized capital gains and losses during the current calendar year through the end of the period, plus any unrealized capital appreciation and depreciation as of the end of the period. It should be noted that a fee so calculated and accrued would not necessarily be payable under the Investment Advisory Agreement, and may never be paid based upon the computation of capital gains incentive fees in subsequent periods. Amounts paid under the Investment Advisory Agreement will be consistent with the formula reflected in the Investment Advisory Agreement.

Example: Calculation of incentive fee

Alternative 1:

Assumptions

The incentive fee would be calculated as follows:

Alternative 2:

Assumptions

The incentive fee would be calculated as follows:

We seek to deploy capital primarily in the form of non-controlling investments in our portfolio companies. Although we primarily invest through private secondary markets, to the extent we make a direct minority investment in a portfolio company, neither we, nor our investment adviser, GSV Asset Management, may have the ability to control the timing of when we realize capital gains or losses with respect to such investment. We expect the timing of such realization events to be determined by our portfolio companies in such cases. To the extent we have non-minority investments, or the securities we hold are traded on a private secondary market or public securities exchange, GSV Asset Management will have greater control over the timing of a realization event. In such cases, our board of directors will monitor such investments in connection with their general oversight of the investment management services provided by GSV Asset Management. In addition, as of the end of each fiscal quarter, we will evaluate whether the cumulative aggregate unrealized appreciation on our portfolio would be sufficient to require us to pay an incentive fee to our investment adviser if such unrealized appreciation were actually realized as of the end of such quarter, and if so, we will accrue an expense equal to the amount of such incentive fee. Any such accrual of incentive fees will be reflected in the calculation of our net asset value.

Payment of our Expenses

All personnel of our investment adviser when and to the extent engaged in providing investment advisory services, and the compensation and expenses of such personnel allocable to such services, are provided and paid for by GSV Asset Management. We are responsible for all other costs and expenses of our operations and transactions, including (without limitation) the cost of calculating our net asset value; the cost of effecting sales and repurchases of shares of our common stock and other securities; investment advisory fees; fees payable to third parties relating to, or associated with, making investments, including fees and expenses associated with performing due diligence reviews of prospective investments (in each case subject to approval of our board of directors); transfer agent and custodial fees; fees and expenses associated with marketing efforts (including attendance at investment conference and similar events); federal and state registration fees; any exchange listing fees; federal, state and local taxes; independent directors’ fees and expenses; brokerage commissions; costs associated with our reporting and compliance obligations under the 1940 Act and applicable federal and state securities laws including costs of proxy statements, stockholders’ reports and notices; fidelity bond, directors and officers/errors and omissions liability insurance and other insurance premiums; direct costs such as printing, mailing, long distance telephone, staff, independent audits and outside legal costs and all other expenses incurred by either GSV Capital Service Company or us in connection with administering our business, including payments under the Administration Agreement that are based upon our allocable portion of overhead and other expenses incurred by GSV Capital Service Company in performing its obligations under the Administration Agreement, including a portion of the rent and the compensation of our chief financial officer and chief compliance officer and other administrative support personnel. All of these expenses are ultimately borne by our common stockholders.

Duration and Termination

The Investment Advisory Agreement was reapproved by our board of directors on March 8, 2013. Unless earlier terminated as described below, the Investment Advisory Agreement will remain in effect for a period of one year from the date it was approved by the board of directors and will remain in effect from year to year thereafter if approved annually by our board of directors or by the affirmative vote of the holders of a majority of our outstanding voting securities, including, in either case, approval by a majority of our directors who are not interested persons. The Investment Advisory Agreement will automatically terminate in the event of its assignment. The Investment Advisory Agreement may be terminated by either party without penalty upon not more than 60 days’ written notice to the other. The Investment Advisory Agreement may also be terminated, without penalty, upon the vote of a majority of our outstanding voting securities.

Indemnification

The Investment Advisory Agreement provides that, absent willful misfeasance, bad faith or gross negligence in the performance of its duties or by reason of the reckless disregard of its duties and obligations, GSV Asset Management and its officers, managers, partners, agents, employees, controlling persons, members and any other person or entity affiliated with it are entitled to indemnification from us for any damages, liabilities, costs and expenses (including reasonable attorneys’ fees and amounts reasonably paid in settlement) arising from the rendering of GSV Asset Management’s services under the Investment Advisory Agreement or otherwise as our investment adviser.

Organization of the Investment Adviser

GSV Asset Management is a Delaware limited liability company. The principal executive offices of GSV Asset Management are located at 2925 Woodside Road, Woodside, CA 94062.

Board Approval of the Investment Advisory Agreement

Our Board of Directors determined at a meeting held on March 8, 2013 to reapprove the Investment Advisory Agreement. In its consideration of the reapproval of the Investment Advisory Agreement, the Board of Directors focused on information it had received relating to, among other things:

Based on the information reviewed and related discussions, the Board of Directors concluded that fees payable to GSV Asset Management pursuant to the Investment Advisory Agreement were reasonable in relation to the services to be provided. The Board of Directors did not assign relative weights to the above factors or the other factors considered by it. In addition, the Board of Directors did not reach any specific conclusion on each factor considered, but conducted an overall analysis of these factors. Individual members of the Board of Directors may have given different weights to different factors.

Administration Agreement

Pursuant to a separate Administration Agreement, GSV Capital Service Company, a Delaware limited liability company, furnishes us with office facilities, together with equipment and clerical, bookkeeping and record keeping services at such facilities. The principal executive offices of GSV Capital Service Company are located at 2925 Woodside Road, Woodside, CA 94062. Under the Administration Agreement, GSV Capital Service Company also performs, or oversees the performance of, our required administrative services, which includes being responsible for the financial records which we are required to maintain and preparing reports to our stockholders and reports filed with the SEC. In addition, GSV Capital Service Company assists us in determining and publishing our net asset value, overseeing the preparation and filing of our tax returns and the printing and dissemination of reports to our stockholders, and generally overseeing the payment of our expenses and the performance of administrative and professional services rendered to us by others. Payments under the Administration Agreement are based upon our allocable portion of overhead and other expenses incurred by GSV Capital Service Company in performing its obligations under the administration agreement, including a portion of the rent and the compensation of our chief financial officer and chief compliance officer and any administrative support personnel. While there is no limit on the total amount of expenses we may be required to reimburse to GSV Capital Service Company, our administrator will only charge us for the actual expenses it incurs on our behalf, or our allocable portion thereof, without any profit to GSV Capital Service Company. The Administration Agreement may be terminated by either party without penalty upon 60 days’ written notice to the other party.

The Administration Agreement provides that, absent willful misfeasance, bad faith or gross negligence in the performance of their respective duties or by reason of the reckless disregard of their respective duties and obligations, GSV Capital Service Company and its officers, manager, agents, employees, controlling persons, members and any other person or entity affiliated with it are entitled to indemnification from us for any damages, liabilities, costs and expenses (including reasonable attorneys’ fees and amounts reasonably paid in settlement) arising from the rendering of GSV Capital Service Company’s services under the Administration Agreement or otherwise as our administrator.

GSV Capital Service Company also provides administrative services to our investment adviser, GSV Asset Management. As a result, GSV Asset Management also reimburses GSV Capital Service Company for its allocable portion of GSV Capital Service Company’s overhead, including rent, the fees and expenses associated with performing compliance functions for GSV Asset Management, and its allocable portion of the compensation of any administrative support staff.

License Agreement

We have entered into a license agreement with GSV Asset Management pursuant to which GSV Asset Management has agreed to grant us a non-exclusive, royalty-free license to use the name ‘‘GSV.’’ Under this agreement, we have a right to use the GSV name for so long as the Investment Advisory Agreement with GSV Asset Management is in effect. Other than with respect to this limited license, we will have no legal right to the ‘‘GSV’’ name.

Regulation as a Business Development Company

General

A business development company is regulated by the 1940 Act. A business development company must be organized in the United States for the purpose of investing in or lending to primarily private companies and making significant managerial assistance available to them. A business development company may use capital provided by public stockholders and from other sources to make long-term, private investments in businesses. A business development company provides stockholders the ability to retain the liquidity of a publicly traded stock while sharing in the possible benefits, if any, of investing in primarily privately owned companies.

We may not change the nature of our business so as to cease to be, or withdraw our election as, a business development company unless authorized by vote of a majority of the outstanding voting securities, as required by the 1940 Act. A majority of the outstanding voting securities of a company is defined under the 1940 Act as the lesser of: (a) 67% or more of such company’s voting securities present at a meeting if more than 50% of the outstanding voting securities of such company are present or represented by proxy, or (b) more than 50% of the outstanding voting securities of such company. We do not anticipate any substantial change in the nature of our business.

As with other companies regulated by the 1940 Act, a business development company must adhere to certain substantive regulatory requirements. A majority of our directors must be persons who are not interested persons, as that term is defined in the 1940 Act. Additionally, we are required to provide and maintain a bond issued by a reputable fidelity insurance company to protect the business development company. Furthermore, as a business development company, we are prohibited from protecting any director or officer against any liability to us or our stockholders arising from willful misfeasance, bad faith, gross negligence or reckless disregard of the duties involved in the conduct of such person’s office.

As a business development company, we are generally required to meet an asset coverage ratio, defined under the 1940 Act as the ratio of our gross assets (less all liabilities and indebtedness not represented by senior securities) to our outstanding senior securities, of at least 200% after each issuance of senior securities. We may also be prohibited under the 1940 Act from knowingly participating in certain transactions with our affiliates without the prior approval of our directors who are not interested persons and, in some cases, prior approval by the SEC.

We are generally not able to issue and sell our common stock at a price below net asset value per share. See “Risk Factors — Risks Relating to Our Business and Structure — Regulations governing our operation as a business development company affect our ability to, and the way in which we, raise additional capital.” We may, however, sell our common stock, or warrants, options or rights to acquire our common stock, at a price below the then-current net asset value of our common stock if our board of directors determines that such sale is in our best interests and the best interests of our stockholders, and our stockholders approve such sale. In addition, we may generally issue new shares of our common stock at a price below net asset value in rights offerings to existing stockholders, in payment of dividends and in certain other limited circumstances.

As a business development company, we are generally limited in our ability to invest in any portfolio company in which our investment adviser or any of its affiliates currently has an investment or to make any co-investments with our investment adviser or its affiliates without an exemptive order from the SEC, subject to certain exceptions.

We are subject to periodic examination by the SEC for compliance with the 1940 Act.

As a business development company, we are subject to certain risks and uncertainties. See “Risk Factors — Risks Relating to Our Business and Structure.”

Qualifying Assets

Under the 1940 Act, a business development company may not acquire any asset other than assets of the type listed in Section 55(a) of the 1940 Act, which are referred to as qualifying assets, unless, at the time the acquisition is made, qualifying assets represent at least 70% of the business development company’s gross assets. The principal categories of qualifying assets relevant to our business are the following:

If at any time less than 70% of our gross assets are comprised of qualifying assets, including as a result of an increase in the value of any non-qualifying assets or decrease in the value of any qualifying assets, we would generally not be permitted to acquire any additional non-qualifying assets, other than office furniture and equipment, interests in real estate and leasehold improvements and facilities maintained to conduct the business operations of the business development company, deferred organization and operating expenses, and other noninvestment assets necessary and appropriate to its operations as a business development company, until such time as 70% of our then current gross assets were comprised of qualifying assets. We would not be required, however, to dispose of any non-qualifying assets in such circumstances.

Managerial Assistance to Portfolio Companies

In addition, a business development company must have been organized and have its principal place of business in the United States and must be operated for the purpose of making investments in the types of securities described above in Qualifying Assets categories 1, 2 or 3. However, in order to count portfolio securities as qualifying assets for the purpose of the 70% test, the business development company must either control the issuer of the securities or must offer to make available to the issuer of the securities (other than small and solvent companies described above in Qualifying Assets category 1.c.iv.) significant managerial assistance; except that, where the business development company purchases such securities in conjunction with one or more other persons acting together, one of the other persons in the group may make available such managerial assistance. Making available managerial assistance means, among other things, any arrangement whereby the business development company, through its directors, officers or employees, offers to provide, and, if accepted, does so provide, significant guidance and counsel concerning the management, operations or business objectives and policies of a portfolio company.

Temporary Investments

Pending investment in other types of ‘‘qualifying assets,’’ as described above, our investments may consist of cash, cash equivalents, U.S. government securities or high-quality debt securities maturing in one year or less from the time of investment, which we refer to, collectively, as temporary investments, so that 70% of our assets are qualifying assets. Typically, we will invest in U.S. Treasury bills or in repurchase agreements, provided that such agreements are fully collateralized by cash or securities issued by the U.S. government or its agencies. A repurchase agreement involves the purchase by an investor, such as us, of a specified security and the simultaneous agreement by the seller to repurchase it at an agreed-upon future date and at a price which is greater than the purchase price by an amount that reflects an agreed-upon interest rate. There is no percentage restriction on the proportion of our assets that may be invested in such repurchase agreements. However, if more than 25% of our gross assets constitute repurchase agreements from a single counterparty, we would not meet the diversification tests in order to qualify as a RIC for federal income tax purposes. Thus, we do not intend to enter into repurchase agreements with a single counterparty in excess of this limit. Our investment adviser will monitor the creditworthiness of the counterparties with which we enter into repurchase agreement transactions.

Senior Securities

We are permitted, under specified conditions, to issue multiple classes of indebtedness and one class of stock senior to our common stock if our asset coverage, as defined in the 1940 Act, is at least equal to 200% immediately after each such issuance. In addition, while any senior securities remain outstanding, we must make provisions to prohibit any distribution to our stockholders or the repurchase of such securities or shares unless we meet the applicable asset coverage ratios at the time of the distribution or repurchase. We may also borrow amounts up to 5% of the value of our gross assets for temporary or emergency purposes without regard to asset coverage. For a discussion of the risks associated with leverage, see ‘‘Risk Factors — Risks Relating to Our Business and Structure — We may borrow money, which would magnify the potential for gain or loss on amounts invested and may increase the risk of investing in us.’’

Code of Ethics

We and GSV Asset Management have each adopted a code of ethics pursuant to Rule 17j-1 under the 1940 Act and Rule 204A-1 under the Advisers Act, respectively, that establishes procedures for personal investments and restricts certain transactions by our personnel. Our codes of ethics generally do not permit investments by our employees in securities that may be purchased or held by us. You may read and copy these codes of ethics at the SEC’s Public Reference Room in Washington, D.C. You may obtain information on the operation of the Public Reference Room by calling the SEC at (202) 551-8090. In addition, each code of ethics is available on the EDGAR Database on the SEC’s Internet site at http://www.sec.gov. You may also obtain copies of the codes of ethics, after paying a duplicating fee, by electronic request at the following Email address: publicinfo@sec.gov, or by writing the SEC’s Public Reference Section, 100 F Street, N.E., Washington, D.C. 20549.

Compliance Policies and Procedures

We and our investment adviser have adopted and implemented written policies and procedures reasonably designed to detect and prevent violation of the federal securities laws and are required to review these compliance policies and procedures annually for their adequacy and the effectiveness of their implementation and designate a chief compliance officer to be responsible for administering the policies and procedures. Stephen D. Bard currently serves as our chief compliance officer.

Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002

The Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002 imposes a wide variety of regulatory requirements on publicly-held companies and their insiders. Many of these requirements affect us. For example:

The Sarbanes-Oxley Act requires us to review our current policies and procedures to determine whether we comply with the Sarbanes-Oxley Act and the regulations promulgated thereunder. We will continue to monitor our compliance with all regulations that are adopted under the Sarbanes-Oxley Act and will take actions necessary to ensure that we are in compliance therewith.

Proxy Voting Policies and Procedures

We have delegated our proxy voting responsibility to GSV Asset Management. The Proxy Voting Policies and Procedures of GSV Asset Management are set forth below. The guidelines will be reviewed periodically by GSV Asset Management and our non-interested directors, and, accordingly, are subject to change. For purposes of these Proxy Voting Policies and Procedures described below, ‘‘we,’’ ‘‘our’’ and ‘‘us’’ refers to GSV Asset Management.

Introduction

An investment adviser registered under the Advisers Act has a fiduciary duty to act solely in the best interests of its clients. As part of this duty, we recognize that we must vote client securities in a timely manner free of conflicts of interest and in the best interests of our clients.

These policies and procedures for voting proxies for our investment advisory clients are intended to comply with Section 206 of, and Rule 206(4)-6 under, the Advisers Act.

Proxy Policies

We will vote proxies relating to our portfolio securities in what we perceive to be the best interest of our clients’ stockholders. We will review on a case-by-case basis each proposal submitted to a stockholder vote to determine its impact on the portfolio securities held by our clients. Although we will generally vote against proposals that may have a negative impact on our clients’ portfolio securities, we may vote for such a proposal if there exist compelling long-term reasons to do so.

Our proxy voting decisions will be made by the senior officers who are responsible for monitoring each of our clients’ investments. To ensure that our vote is not the product of a conflict of interest, we will require that: (1) anyone involved in the decision making process disclose to our managing members any potential conflict that he or she is aware of and any contact that he or she has had with any interested party regarding a proxy vote; and (2) employees involved in the decision making process or vote administration are prohibited from revealing how we intend to vote on a proposal in order to reduce any attempted influence from interested parties.

Proxy Voting Records

You may obtain information about how we voted proxies by making a written request for proxy voting information to: GSV Asset Management, 2925 Woodside Road, Woodside, CA 94062.

Privacy Principles

We are committed to maintaining the privacy of our stockholders and to safeguarding their non-public personal information. The following information is provided to help you understand what personal information we collect, how we protect that information and why, in certain cases, we may share information with select other parties.

Generally, we do not receive any non-public personal information relating to our stockholders, although certain non-public personal information of our stockholders may become available to us. We do not disclose any non-public personal information about our stockholders or former stockholders to anyone, except as permitted by law or as is necessary in order to service stockholder accounts (for example, to a transfer agent or third party administrator).

We restrict access to non-public personal information about our stockholders to employees of our investment adviser and its affiliates with a legitimate business need for the information. We will maintain physical, electronic and procedural safeguards designed to protect the non-public personal information of our stockholders.

Material U.S. Federal Income Tax Considerations

The following discussion is a general summary of the material U.S. federal income tax considerations applicable to us and to an investment in our shares. This summary does not purport to be a complete description of the income tax considerations applicable to such an investment. For example, we have not described tax consequences that may be relevant to certain types of holders subject to special treatment under U.S. federal income tax laws, including stockholders subject to the alternative minimum tax, tax-exempt organizations, insurance companies, dealers in securities, a trader in securities that elects to use a mark-to-market method of accounting for its securities holdings, pension plans and trusts, and financial institutions. This summary assumes that investors hold our common stock as capital assets (within the meaning of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, as amended the ‘‘Code’’). The discussion is based upon the Code, Treasury regulations, and administrative and judicial interpretations, each as of the date of this annual report on Form 10-K and all of which are subject to change, possibly retroactively, which could affect the continuing validity of this discussion. This summary does not discuss any aspects of U.S. estate or gift tax or foreign, state or local tax. It does not discuss the special treatment under U.S. federal income tax laws that could result if we invested in tax-exempt securities or certain other investment assets.

A ‘‘U.S. stockholder’’ generally is a beneficial owner of shares of our common stock who is for U.S. federal income tax purposes:

A ‘‘Non-U.S. stockholder’’ generally is a beneficial owner of shares of our common stock who is not a U.S. stockholder.

If a partnership (including an entity treated as a partnership for U.S. federal income tax purposes) holds shares of our common stock, the tax treatment of a partner in the partnership will generally depend upon the status of the partner and the activities of the partnership. A prospective stockholder that is a partner of a partnership holding shares of our common stock should consult his, her or its tax advisers with respect to the purchase, ownership and disposition of shares of our common stock. Tax matters are complicated and the tax consequences to an investor of an investment in our shares will depend on the facts of his, her or its particular situation. We encourage investors to consult their own tax advisers regarding the specific consequences of such an investment, including tax reporting requirements, the applicability of federal, state, local and foreign tax laws, eligibility for the benefits of any applicable tax treaty and the effect of any possible changes in the tax laws.

Election to be Taxed as a RIC

We intend to elect to be treated as a RIC under Subchapter M of the Code, beginning with our 2013 taxable year. As a RIC, we generally will not have to pay corporate-level federal income taxes on any income that we distribute to our stockholders as dividends. To qualify as a RIC, we must, among other things, meet certain source-of-income and asset diversification requirements (as described below). In addition, in order to be eligible for pass-through tax treatment as a RIC, we must distribute to our stockholders, for each taxable year, at least 90% of our ‘‘investment company taxable income,’’ which is generally our net ordinary income plus the excess of realized net short-term capital gains over realized net long-term capital losses (the ‘‘Annual Distribution Requirement’’).

Taxation as a Regulated Investment Company

If we:

then we will not be subject to federal income tax on the portion of our income we distribute (or are deemed to distribute) to stockholders. We will be subject to U.S. federal income tax at the regular corporate rates on any income or capital gains not distributed (or deemed distributed) to our stockholders.

We will be subject to a 4% nondeductible federal excise tax on certain undistributed income unless we distribute in a timely manner an amount at least equal to the sum of (1) 98% of our net ordinary income for each calendar year, (2) 98.2% of our capital gain net income for the one-year period ending October 31 in that calendar year and (3) any income recognized, but not distributed, in preceding years (the ‘‘Excise Tax Avoidance Requirement’’). We generally will endeavor in each year to make sufficient distributions to our stockholders to avoid any U.S. federal excise tax on our earnings.

In order to qualify as a RIC for federal income tax purposes, we must, among other things:

Provided that we satisfy the Diversification Tests as of the close of any quarter, we will not fail the Diversification Tests as of the close of a subsequent quarter as a consequence of a discrepancy between the value of our assets and the requirements of the Diversification Tests that is attributable solely to fluctuations in the value of our assets. Rather, we will fail the Diversification Tests as of the end of a subsequent quarter only if such a discrepancy existed immediately after our acquisition of any asset and was wholly or partly the result of that acquisition. In addition, if we fail the Diversification Tests as of the end of any quarter, we will not lose our status as a RIC if we eliminate the discrepancy within thirty days of the end of such quarter and, if we eliminate the discrepancy within that thirty-day period, we will be treated as having satisfied the Diversification Tests as of the end of such quarter for purposes of applying the rule described in the preceding sentence.

We may be required to recognize taxable income in circumstances in which we do not receive cash. For example, if we hold debt obligations that are treated under applicable tax rules as having original issue discount (which may arise if we receive warrants in connection with the origination of a loan or possibly in other circumstances), we must include in income each year a portion of the original issue discount that accrues over the life of the obligation, regardless of whether cash representing such income is received by us in the same taxable year. We may also have to include in income other amounts that we have not yet received in cash, such as contractual payment-in-kind, or PIK, interest (which represents contractual interest added to the loan balance and due at the end of the loan term) or dividends and deferred loan origination fees that are paid after origination of the loan or are paid in non-cash compensation such as warrants or stock. Because any original issue discount or other amounts accrued will be included in our investment company taxable income for the year of accrual, we may be required to make a distribution to our stockholders in order to satisfy the Annual Distribution Requirement, even though we will not have received any corresponding cash amount.

Although we do not presently expect to do so, we are authorized to borrow funds and to sell assets in order to satisfy distribution requirements. However, under the 1940 Act, we are not permitted to make distributions to our stockholders while our debt obligations and other senior securities are outstanding unless certain ‘‘asset coverage’’ tests are met. See ‘‘Regulation — Senior Securities.’’ Moreover, our ability to dispose of assets to meet our distribution requirements may be limited by (1) the illiquid nature of our portfolio and/or (2) other requirements relating to our status as a RIC, including the Diversification Tests. If we dispose of assets in order to meet the Annual Distribution Requirement or the Excise Tax Avoidance Requirement, we may make such dispositions at times that, from an investment standpoint, are not advantageous.

Certain of our investment practices may be subject to special and complex U.S. federal income tax provisions that may, among other things: (i) disallow, suspend or otherwise limit the allowance of certain losses or deductions; (ii) convert lower taxed long-term capital gain into higher taxed short-term capital gain or ordinary income; (iii) convert an ordinary loss or a deduction into a capital loss (the deductibility of which is more limited); (iv) cause us to recognize income or gain without a corresponding receipt of cash; (v) adversely affect the time as to when a purchase or sale of securities is deemed to occur; (vi) adversely alter the characterization of certain complex financial transactions; and (vii) produce income that will not be qualifying income for purposes of the 90% Income Test described above. We will monitor our transactions and may make certain tax elections in order to mitigate the potential adverse effect of these provisions.

Gain or loss realized by us from the sale or exchange of warrants acquired by us as well as any loss attributable to the lapse of such warrants generally will be treated as capital gain or loss. The treatment of such gain or loss as long-term or short-term will depend on how long we held a particular warrant. Upon the exercise of a warrant acquired by us, our tax basis in the stock purchased under the warrant will equal the sum of the amount paid for the warrant plus the strike price paid on the exercise of the warrant.

The remainder of this discussion assumes that we qualify as a RIC and have satisfied the Annual Distribution Requirement.

Taxation of U.S. Stockholders

Distributions by us generally are taxable to U.S. stockholders as ordinary income or capital gains. Distributions of our “investment company taxable income” (which is, generally, our net ordinary income plus realized net short-term capital gains in excess of realized net long-term capital losses) will be taxable as ordinary income to U.S. stockholders to the extent of our current or accumulated earnings and profits, whether paid in cash or reinvested in additional common stock. To the extent such distributions paid by us in taxable years beginning before January 1, 2013 to non-corporate stockholders (including individuals) are attributable to dividends from U.S. corporations and certain qualified foreign corporations, such distributions (“Qualifying Dividends”) may be eligible for a maximum tax rate of 15% provided that the holding period requirement is satisfied. In this regard, it is anticipated that distributions of “investment company taxable income” paid by us will generally not be attributable to dividends received by us and, therefore, generally will not qualify for the 15% maximum rate applicable to Qualifying Dividends. Distributions by us to a corporate shareholder will qualify for the dividends-received deduction only to the extent that the distributions consist of certain dividends received by us. In addition, any such dividends-received deduction will be disallowed or reduced if the corporate shareholder fails to satisfy certain requirements, including a holding period requirement, with respect to its shares of our common stock. Distributions of our net capital gains (which are generally our realized net long-term capital gains in excess of realized net short-term capital losses) properly reported by us as “capital gain dividends” will be taxable to a U.S. stockholder as long-term capital gains, regardless of the U.S. stockholder’s holding period for his, her or its common stock and regardless of whether paid in cash or reinvested in additional common stock. Any such capital gain distributions that are made in taxable years of a U.S. stockholder beginning before January 1, 2013 will be taxable at a maximum rate of 15% in the case of individuals, trusts or estates. Distributions in excess of our current and accumulated earnings and profits first will reduce a U.S. stockholder’s adjusted tax basis in such stockholder’s common stock and, after the adjusted basis is reduced to zero, will constitute capital gains to such U.S. stockholder.

Under the dividend reinvestment plan, our stockholders who have not “opted out” of our dividend reinvestment plan will have their cash distributions automatically reinvested in additional shares of our common stock, rather than receiving the cash distributions. Any distributions reinvested under the plan will nevertheless remain taxable to U.S. stockholders. A U.S. stockholder will have an adjusted basis in the additional common stock purchased through the plan equal to the amount of the reinvested distribution. The additional shares will have a new holding period commencing on the day following the day on which the shares are credited to the U.S. stockholder’s account.

We may retain some or all of our realized net long-term capital gains in excess of realized net short-term capital losses, but designate the retained net capital gain as a “deemed distribution.” In that case, among other consequences, we will pay tax on the retained amount, each U.S. stockholder will be required to include his, her or its share of the deemed distribution in income as if it had been actually distributed to the U.S. stockholder, and the U.S. stockholder will be entitled to claim a credit equal to his, her or its allocable share of the tax paid thereon by us. Because we expect to pay tax on any retained capital gains at our regular corporate tax rate, and because that rate is in excess of the maximum rate currently payable by non-corporate taxpayers on long-term capital gains, the amount of tax that individual U.S. stockholders will be treated as having paid will exceed the tax they owe on the capital gain distribution and such excess generally may be refunded or claimed as a credit against the U.S. stockholder’s other U.S. federal income tax obligations. The amount of the deemed distribution net of such tax will be added to the U.S. stockholder’s tax basis for his, her or its common stock. In order to utilize the deemed distribution approach, we must provide written notice to our stockholders prior to the expiration of 60 days after the close of the relevant taxable year. We cannot treat any of our investment company taxable income as a “deemed distribution.”

As a RIC, we are required to apportion any items that are treated differently for alternative minimum tax (“AMT”) purposes between us and our stockholders, and such apportionment may affect our stockholders’ AMT liabilities. Although regulations explaining the precise method of apportionment have not yet been issued by the Internal Revenue Service, we intend in general to apportion these items in the same proportion that dividends paid to each stockholder bear to our taxable income (determined without regard to the dividends paid deduction we are entitled to claim), unless we determine that a different method for a particular item is warranted under the circumstances.

For purposes of determining (1) whether the Annual Distribution Requirement is satisfied for any year and (2) the amount of capital gain dividends paid for that year, we may, under certain circumstances, elect to treat a dividend that is paid during the following taxable year as if it had been paid during the taxable year in question. If we make such an election, the U.S. stockholder will still be treated as receiving the dividend in the taxable year in which the distribution is made. However, any dividend declared by us in October, November or December of any calendar year, payable to stockholders of record on a specified date in such a month and actually paid during January of the following year, will be treated as if it had been received by our U.S. stockholders on December 31 of the year in which the dividend was declared.

If an investor purchases shares of our common stock shortly before the record date of a distribution, the price of the shares will include the value of the distribution and the investor will be subject to tax on the distribution even though economically it may represent a return of his, her or its investment.

A stockholder generally will recognize taxable gain or loss if the stockholder sells or otherwise disposes of his, her or its shares of our common stock. The amount of gain or loss will be measured by the difference between such stockholder’s adjusted tax basis in the common stock sold and the amount of the proceeds received in exchange. Any gain or loss arising from such sale or disposition generally will be treated as long-term capital gain or loss if the stockholder has held his, her or its shares for more than one year. Otherwise, it will be classified as short-term capital gain or loss. However, any capital loss arising from the sale or disposition of shares of our common stock held for six months or less will be treated as long-term capital loss to the extent of the amount of capital gain dividends received, or undistributed capital gain deemed received, with respect to such shares. In addition, all or a portion of any loss recognized by a stockholder upon a disposition of shares of our common stock will generally be disallowed if the stockholder purchases other shares of our common stock (whether through reinvestment of distributions or otherwise) within 30 days before or after the disposition.

In general, non-corporate U.S. stockholders currently are subject to a maximum federal income tax rate of 15% on their net capital gain (i.e., the excess of realized net long-term capital gains over realized net short-term capital losses) recognized in taxable years beginning before January 1, 2013 (such rate will increase to 20% absent Congressional action), including any long-term capital gain derived from an investment in our shares. Such rate is lower than the maximum rate on ordinary income currently payable by individuals. In addition, for taxable years beginning after December 31, 2012, individuals with income in excess of $200,000 ($250,000 in the case of married individuals filing jointly) and certain estates and trusts are generally subject to an additional 3.8% tax on their “net investment income,” which generally includes net income from interest, dividends, annuities, royalties, and rents, and net capital gains (other than certain amounts earned from trades or businesses). Corporate U.S. stockholders currently are subject to federal income tax on net capital gain at the maximum 35% rate also applied to ordinary income. Non-corporate stockholders with net capital losses for a year (i.e., capital losses in excess of capital gains) generally may deduct up to $3,000 of such losses against their ordinary income each year; any net capital losses of a non-corporate stockholder in excess of $3,000 generally may be carried forward and used in subsequent years as provided in the Code. Corporate stockholders generally may not deduct any net capital losses for a year, but may carry back such losses for three years or carry forward such losses for five years.

We will send to each of our U.S. stockholders, as promptly as possible after the end of each calendar year, a notice detailing, on a per share and per distribution basis, the amounts includible in such U.S. stockholder’s taxable income for such year as ordinary income, Qualifying Dividends and as long-term capital gain. In addition, the federal tax status of each year’s distributions generally will be reported to the Internal Revenue Service. Dividends paid by us out of our “investment company taxable income” generally will not be eligible for the dividends-received deduction or the preferential tax rate applicable to Qualifying Dividends because our income generally will not consist of dividends. Distributions may also be subject to additional state, local and foreign taxes depending on a U.S. stockholder’s particular situation.

We may be required to make U.S. federal backup withholding from all taxable distributions to any U.S. stockholder (other than a corporation, a financial institution, or a stockholder that otherwise qualifies for an exemption) (1) if such stockholder fails to furnish us with a correct taxpayer identification number or a certificate that such stockholder is exempt from backup withholding or (2) if the Internal Revenue Service notifies us that such stockholder has failed to properly report certain interest and dividend income to the Internal Revenue Service and to respond to notices to that effect. An individual’s taxpayer identification number is his or her social security number. Any amount withheld under backup withholding is allowed as a credit against the U.S. stockholder’s federal income tax liability, provided that proper information is provided to the Internal Revenue Service.

Taxation of Non-U.S. Stockholders

Whether an investment in the shares is appropriate for a Non-U.S. stockholder will depend upon that person’s particular circumstances. An investment in the shares by a Non-U.S. stockholder may have adverse tax consequences. Non-U.S. stockholders should consult their tax advisers before investing in our common stock. Distributions of our “investment company taxable income” to Non-U.S. stockholders (including interest income and realized net short-term capital gains in excess of realized long-term capital losses, which generally would be free of withholding if paid to Non-U.S. stockholders directly) will be subject to withholding of federal tax at a 30% rate (or lower rate provided by an applicable treaty) to the extent such distributions do not exceed our current and accumulated earnings and profits unless an applicable exception applies. If the distributions are effectively connected with a U.S. trade or business of the Non-U.S. stockholder (and, if a treaty applies, are attributable to a U.S. permanent establishment of the Non-U.S. stockholder), we will not be required to withhold U.S. federal tax if the Non-U.S. stockholder complies with applicable certification and disclosure requirements, although the distributions will be subject to U.S. federal income tax at the rates applicable to U.S. persons. Special certification requirements apply to a Non-U.S. stockholder that is a foreign partnership or a foreign trust, and such entities are urged to consult their own tax advisers.

For taxable years of RICs beginning on or before December 31, 2011, U.S. source withholding taxes were not imposed on dividends paid by RICs to the extent the dividends were designated as “interest-related dividends” or “short-term capital gain dividends.” Interest-related dividends and short-term capital gain dividends generally represented distributions of interest or short-term capital gains that would not have been subject to U.S. withholding tax at the source if they had been received directly by a foreign person, and that satisfied certain other requirements. It is unclear whether this exemption will be extended for taxable years beginning after December 31, 2011 and, if so, whether any of our distributions will be designated as eligible for this exemption from withholding tax.

Actual or deemed distributions of our net capital gains to a stockholder that is a non-U.S. stockholder, and gains realized by a non-U.S. stockholder upon the sale or redemption of our common stock, will not be subject to U.S. federal income tax unless the distributions or gains, as the case may be, are effectively connected with a U.S. trade or business of the non-U.S. stockholder (and, if an income tax treaty applies, are attributable to a permanent establishment maintained by the non-U.S. stockholder in the United States) or, in the case of an individual, the non-U.S. stockholder was present in the United States for 183 days or more during the taxable year and certain other conditions are met.

If we distribute our net capital gains in the form of deemed rather than actual distributions, a stockholder that is a Non-U.S. stockholder will be entitled to a U.S. federal income tax credit or tax refund equal to the stockholder’s allocable share of the corporate-level tax we pay on the capital gains deemed to have been distributed; however, in order to obtain the refund, the Non-U.S. stockholder must obtain a U.S. taxpayer identification number and file a U.S. federal income tax return even if the Non-U.S. stockholder would not otherwise be required to obtain a U.S. taxpayer identification number or file a U.S. federal income tax return.

If any actual or deemed distributions of our net capital gains, or any gains realized upon the sale or redemption of our common stock, are effectively connected with a U.S. trade or business of the Non-U.S. stockholder (and, if an income tax treaty applies, are attributable to a U.S. permanent establishment maintained by the Non-U.S. stockholder), such amounts will be subject to U.S. income tax, on a net income basis, in the same manner, and at the graduated rates applicable to, a U.S. stockholder. For a corporate Non-U.S. stockholder, the after-tax amount of distributions (both actual and deemed) and gains realized upon the sale or redemption of our common stock that are effectively connected to a U.S. trade or business (and, if a treaty applies, are attributable to a U.S. permanent establishment), may, under certain circumstances, be subject to an additional “branch profits tax” at a 30% rate (or at a lower rate if provided for by an applicable treaty).

Under the dividend reinvestment plan, our stockholders who have not “opted out” of our dividend reinvestment plan will have their cash distributions automatically reinvested in additional shares of our common stock, rather than receiving the cash distributions. If the distribution is a distribution of our investment company taxable income, is not properly reported by us as a short-term capital gains dividend or interest-related dividend (assuming extension of the exemption discussed above), and is not effectively connected with a U.S. trade or business of the Non-U.S. stockholder (and, if a treaty applies, is not attributable to a U.S. permanent establishment), the amount distributed (to the extent of our current and accumulated earnings and profits) will be subject to U.S. federal withholding tax at a 30% rate (or lower rate provided by an applicable treaty) and only the net after-tax amount will be reinvested in our common stock. If the distribution is effectively connected with a U.S. trade or business of the Non-U.S. stockholder (and, if a treaty applies, are attributable to a U.S. permanent establishment), generally the full amount of the distribution will be reinvested in the plan and will nevertheless be subject to U.S. federal income tax at the ordinary income rates applicable to U.S. persons. The Non-U.S. stockholder will have an adjusted basis in the additional common stock purchased through the plan equal to the amount reinvested. The additional shares will have a new holding period commencing on the day following the day on which the shares are credited to the Non-U.S. stockholder’s account.

Legislation enacted in 2010 generally imposes a 30% withholding tax on payments of certain types of payments to foreign financial institutions that fail to enter into an agreement with the United States Treasury to report certain required information with respect to accounts held by United States persons (or held by foreign entities that have United States persons as substantial owners). The types of payments subject to the tax include U.S. source interest and dividends and the gross proceeds from the sale of any property that could produce U.S.-source interest or dividends. The information required to be reported includes the identity and taxpayer identification number of each account holder that is a U.S. person and transaction activity within the holder’s account. In addition, subject to certain exceptions, this legislation also imposes a 30% withholding on payments to foreign entities that are not financial institutions unless the foreign entity certifies that it does not have a 10% or greater U.S. owner or provides the withholding agent with identifying information on each 10% or greater U.S. owner. When these provisions become effective, depending on the status of a Non-U.S. stockholder and the status of the intermediaries through which they hold their common stock, Non-U.S. stockholders could be subject to this 30% withholding tax with respect to distributions on their shares and proceeds from the sale of their common stock. Under certain circumstances, a Non-U.S. stockholder might be eligible for refunds or credits of such taxes. Pursuant to published guidance from the IRS and the U.S. Treasury Department, this legislation will apply to payments of interest and dividends made after December 31, 2013 and payments of gross proceeds made after December 31, 2014.

A Non-U.S. stockholder who is a non-resident alien individual, and who is subject to withholding of U.S. federal tax, may be subject to information reporting in connection with certain payments on the common stock. A Non-U.S. stockholder may be subject to backup withholding of federal income tax on dividends unless the Non-U.S. stockholder provides us or the dividend paying agent with an Internal Revenue Service Form W-8BEN (or an acceptable substitute form) or otherwise meets documentary evidence requirements for establishing that it is a Non-U.S. stockholder or otherwise establishes an exemption from backup withholding. Any amount withheld under backup withholding may be refunded or allowed as a credit against the Non-U.S. stockholder's U.S. federal income tax liability, provided that proper information is provided to the Internal Revenue Service.

Non-U.S. persons should consult their own tax advisers with respect to the U.S. federal income tax and withholding tax, and state, local and foreign tax consequences of an investment in the shares.

Failure to Qualify as a Regulated Investment Company

We are currently taxable as a C corporation and subject to federal and state corporation income taxes; however, we plan to qualify as a RIC beginning with our 2013 taxable year. If we were unable to qualify for treatment as a RIC in the future, we would be subject to tax on all of our taxable income at regular corporate rates, regardless of whether we make any distributions to our stockholders. Distributions would not be required, and any distributions made would be taxable to our stockholders as ordinary dividend income, and provided that certain holding periods and other requirements are met, could be eligible for the 15% maximum rate to the extent of our current and accumulated earnings and profits. Subject to certain limitations under the Code, corporate distributees would be eligible for the dividends-received deduction. Distributions in excess of our current and accumulated earnings and profits would be treated first as a return of capital to the extent of the stockholder’s tax basis, and any remaining distributions would be treated as a capital gain. To requalify as a RIC in a subsequent taxable year, we would be required to satisfy the RIC qualification requirements for that year and dispose of any earnings and profits from any year in which we failed to qualify as a RIC. Subject to a limited exception applicable to RICs that qualified as such under Subchapter M of the Code for at least one year prior to disqualification and that requalify as a RIC no later than the second year following the non-qualifying year, we could be subject to tax on any unrealized net built-in gains in the assets held by us during the period in which we failed to qualify as a RIC that are recognized within the subsequent 10 years, unless we made a special election to pay corporate-level tax on such built-in gain at the time of its requalification as a RIC. If we fail to satisfy the 90% Income Test or the Diversification Test described above, however, we may be able to avoid losing our status as a RIC by timely providing notice of such failure to the Internal Revenue Service, curing such failure and possibly paying an additional tax.

Investing in our common stock involves a number of significant risks. In addition to the other information contained in this annual report on Form 10-K, you should consider carefully the following information before making an investment in our common stock. Although the risks described below represent our material risks, they are not the only risks we face. Additional risks and uncertainties not presently known to us might also impair our operations and performance. If any of the following events occur, our business, financial condition and results of operations could be materially and adversely affected. In such case, our net asset value and the trading price of our common stock could decline, and you may lose all or part of your investment.

Risks Related To Our Investments

Our investments in the rapidly growing venture capital-backed emerging companies that we are targeting may be extremely risky and we could lose all or part of our investments.

Investment in the rapidly growing venture capital-backed emerging companies that we are targeting involves a number of significant risks, including:

A portfolio company’s failure to satisfy financial or operating covenants imposed by its lenders could lead to defaults and, potentially, termination of its loans and foreclosure on its assets, which could trigger cross-defaults under other agreements and jeopardize our equity investment in such portfolio company. We may incur expenses to the extent necessary to seek recovery of our equity investment or to negotiate new terms with a financially distressed portfolio company.

Because our investments are generally not in publicly traded securities, there will be uncertainty regarding the value of our investments, which could adversely affect the determination of our net asset value.

Our portfolio investments will generally not be in publicly traded securities. As a result, although we expect that some of our equity investments may trade on private secondary marketplaces, the fair value of our direct investments in portfolio companies will often not be readily determinable. Under the 1940 Act, for our investments for which there are no readily available market quotations, including securities that while listed on a private securities exchange, have not actively traded, we will value such securities at fair value quarterly as determined in good faith by our board of directors based upon the recommendation of the Board of Director’s Valuation Committee in accordance with our written valuation policy. In connection with that determination, members of our investment adviser’s portfolio management team will prepare portfolio company valuations using the most recent portfolio company financial statements and forecasts. The Valuation Committee intends to utilize the services of an independent valuation firm, which will prepare valuations for each of our portfolio investments that are not publicly traded or for which we do not have readily available market quotations, including securities that while listed on a private securities exchange, have not actively traded. However, the board of directors will retain ultimate authority as to the appropriate valuation of each such investment. The types of factors that the Valuation Committee will take into account in providing its fair value recommendation to the board of directors with respect to such non-traded investments will include, as relevant and, to the extent available, the portfolio company’s earnings, the markets in which the portfolio company does business, comparison to valuations of publicly traded companies, comparisons to recent sales of comparable companies, the discounted value of the cash flows of the portfolio company and other relevant factors. This information may not be available because it is difficult to obtain financial and other information with respect to private companies, and even where we are able to obtain such information, there can be no assurance that it is complete or accurate. Because such valuations are inherently uncertain and may be based on estimates, our determinations of fair value may differ materially from the values that would be assessed if a readily available market for these securities existed. Due to this uncertainty, our fair value determinations with respect to any non-traded investments we hold may cause our net asset value on a given date to materially understate or overstate the value that we may ultimately realize on one or more of our investments. As a result, investors purchasing our common stock based on an overstated net asset value would pay a higher price than the value of our investments might warrant. Conversely, investors selling shares during a period in which the net asset value understates the value of our investments will receive a lower price for their shares than the value of our investments might warrant.

We may not realize gains from our equity investments and, because certain of our portfolio companies may incur substantial debt to finance their operations, we may experience a complete loss on our equity investment in the event of a bankruptcy or liquidation of any of our portfolio companies.

We invest principally in the equity and equity-related securities of rapidly growing venture capital-backed emerging companies. However, the equity interests we acquire may not appreciate in value and, in fact, may decline in value. In addition, the private company securities we acquire are often subject to drag-along rights, which could permit other stockholders, under certain circumstances, to force us to liquidate our position in a subject company at a specified price, which could be, in our opinion, inadequate or undesirable or even below our cost basis. In this event, we could realize a loss or fail to realize gain in an amount that we deem appropriate on our investment. Further, capital market volatility and the overall market environment may preclude our portfolio companies from realizing liquidity events and impede our exit from these investments. Accordingly, we may not be able to realize gains from our equity interests, and any gains that we do realize on the disposition of any equity interests may not be sufficient to offset any other losses we experience. We will generally have little, if any, control over the timing of any gains or losses we may realize from our equity investments. In addition, the companies in which we invest may have substantial debt loads. In such cases, we would typically be last in line behind any creditors in a bankruptcy or liquidation, and would likely experience a complete loss on our investment.

Substantially all of our portfolio companies are currently experiencing operating losses, which may be substantial, and there can be no assurance when or if such companies will operate at a profit.

We have limited information about the financial performance and profitability of certain of our portfolio companies. While according to public filings with the SEC, certain of our portfolio companies have earned net income in recent periods, we believe that substantially all of our portfolio companies are currently experiencing operating losses. There can be no assurance when or if such companies will operate at a profit.

The lack of liquidity in, and potentially extended holding period of, our many investments may adversely affect our business, and will delay any distributions of gains, if any.

Our investments will generally not be in publicly traded securities. Although we expect that some of our equity investments will trade on private secondary marketplaces, certain of the securities we hold will be subject to legal and other restrictions on resale or will otherwise be less liquid than publicly traded securities. In addition, while some portfolio companies may trade on private secondary marketplaces, we can provide no assurance that such a trading market will continue or remain active, or that we will be able to sell our position in any portfolio company at the time we desire to do so and at the price we anticipate. The illiquidity of our investments, including those that are traded on private secondary marketplaces, will make it difficult for us to sell such investments if the need arises. Also, if we are required to liquidate all or a portion of our portfolio quickly, we may realize significantly less than the value at which we have previously recorded our investments. We will have no limitation on the portion of our portfolio that may be invested in illiquid securities, and a substantial portion or all of our portfolio may be invested in such illiquid securities from time to time.

In addition, because we will generally invest in equity and equity-related securities, with respect to the majority of our portfolio companies, we do not expect realization events, if any, to occur in the near term. We expect that our holdings of equity securities may require several years to appreciate in value, and we can offer no assurance that such appreciation will occur. Even if such appreciation does occur, it is likely that initial purchasers of our shares could wait for an extended period of time before any appreciation or sale of our investments, and any attendant distributions of gains, may be realized.

Our portfolio may be concentrated in a limited number of portfolio companies or market sectors, which will subject us to a risk of significant loss if the business or market position of these companies deteriorates or market sectors experiences a market downturn.

A consequence of our limited number of investments is that the aggregate returns we realize may be significantly adversely affected if a small number of investments perform poorly or if we need to write down the value of any one investment. For example, as of December 31, 2012, over half of our portfolio company investments were comprised of investments in seven portfolio companies. Beyond our income tax asset diversification requirements, we do not have fixed guidelines for diversification, and our investments could be concentrated in relatively few issuers. In addition, our investments may be concentrated in a limited number of market sectors, including in technology-related sectors. As a result, a downturn in any market sector in which a significant number of our portfolio companies operate or if the market position of any portfolio company in which we have a material position deteriorates could materially adversely affect us.

Technology-related sectors in which we invest are subject to many risks, including volatility, intense competition, decreasing life cycles, product obsolescence, changing consumer preferences and periodic downturns.

Given the experience of our investment adviser’s senior investment professionals and its Advisory Board members within the technology space, we expect that a number of the companies with respect to which we invest will operate in technology-related sectors. The revenues, income (or losses) and valuations of technology-related companies can and often do fluctuate suddenly and dramatically. In addition, because of rapid technological change, the average selling prices of products and some services provided by technology-related sectors have historically decreased over their productive lives. As a result, the average selling prices of products and services offered by our portfolio companies that operated in technology-related sectors may decrease over time, which could adversely affect their operating results and, correspondingly, the value of any equity securities that we may hold. This could, in turn, materially adversely affect our business, financial condition and results of operations.

We may be limited in our ability to make follow-on investments, and our failure to make follow-on investments in our portfolio companies could impair the value of our portfolio.

Following an initial investment in a portfolio company, we may make additional investments in that portfolio company as “follow-on” investments, in order to: (1) increase or maintain in whole or in part our equity ownership percentage; (2) exercise warrants, options or convertible securities that were acquired in the original or subsequent financing; or (3) attempt to preserve or enhance the value of our investment.

We may elect not to make follow-on investments, or may otherwise lack sufficient funds to make those investments or lack access to desired follow-on investment opportunities. We have the discretion to make any follow-on investments, subject to the availability of capital resources and of the investment opportunity. The failure to make follow-on investments may, in some circumstances, jeopardize the continued viability of a portfolio company and our initial investment, or may result in a missed opportunity for us to increase our participation in a successful operation. Even if we have sufficient capital to make a desired follow-on investment, we may elect not to make a follow-on investment because we may not want to increase our concentration of risk, because we prefer other opportunities, or because we are inhibited by compliance with business development company requirements or the desire to maintain our tax status or lack access to the desired follow-on investment opportunity.

In addition, we may be unable to complete follow-on investments in our portfolio companies that have conducted an initial public offering as a result of regulatory or financial restrictions.

Because we will generally not hold controlling equity interests in our portfolio companies, we will likely not be in a position to exercise control over our portfolio companies or to prevent decisions by substantial shareholders or management of our portfolio companies that could decrease the value of our investments.

Generally, we will not take controlling equity positions in our portfolio companies. As a result, we will be subject to the risk that a portfolio company may make business decisions with which we disagree, and the stockholders and management of a portfolio company may take risks or otherwise act in ways that are adverse to our interests. In addition, other shareholders, such as venture capital and private equity sponsors, that have substantial investments in our portfolio companies may have interests that differ from that of the portfolio company or its minority shareholders, which may lead them to take actions that could materially and adversely affect the value of our investment in the portfolio company. Due to the lack of liquidity for the equity and equity-related investments that we will typically hold in our portfolio companies, we may not be able to dispose of our investments in the event we disagree with the actions of a portfolio company or its substantial shareholders, and may therefore suffer a decrease in the value of our investments.

Investments in foreign companies may involve significant risks in addition to the risks inherent in U.S. investments.

While we invest primarily in U.S. companies, we may invest on an opportunistic basis in certain non-U.S. companies, including those located in emerging markets, that otherwise meet our investment criteria, although in no event will the aggregate value of our non-U.S. investments exceed 30% of the aggregate value of our total investment portfolio. Investing in foreign companies, and particularly those in emerging markets, may expose us to additional risks not typically associated with investing in U.S. issues. These risks include changes in exchange control regulations, political and social instability, expropriation, imposition of foreign taxes, less liquid markets and less available information than is generally the case in the United States, higher transaction costs, less government supervision of exchanges, brokers and issuers, less developed bankruptcy laws, difficulty in enforcing contractual obligations, lack of uniform accounting and auditing standards and greater price volatility. Further, we may have difficulty enforcing our rights as equity holders in foreign jurisdictions. In addition, to the extent we invest in non-U.S. companies, we may face greater exposure to foreign economic developments.

Although we expect that most of our investments will be U.S. dollar-denominated, any investments denominated in a foreign currency will be subject to the risk that the value of a particular currency will change in relation to one or more other currencies. Among the factors that may affect currency values are trade balances, the level of short-term interest rates, differences in relative values of similar assets in different currencies, long-term opportunities for investment and capital appreciation, and political developments.

We may expose ourselves to risks if we engage in hedging transactions.

If we engage in hedging transactions, we may expose ourselves to risks associated with such transactions. We may utilize instruments such as forward contracts, currency options and interest rate swaps, caps, collars and floors to seek to hedge against fluctuations in the relative values of our portfolio positions from changes in currency exchange rates and market interest rates. Hedging against a decline in the values of our portfolio positions does not eliminate the possibility of fluctuations in the values of such positions or prevent losses if the values of such positions decline. However, such hedging can establish other positions designed to gain from those same developments, thereby offsetting the decline in the value of such portfolio positions. Such hedging transactions may also limit the opportunity for gain if the values of the underlying portfolio positions should increase. It may not be possible to hedge against an exchange rate or interest rate fluctuation that is so generally anticipated that we are not able to enter into a hedging transaction at an acceptable price. Moreover, for a variety of reasons, we may not seek to establish a perfect correlation between such hedging instruments and the portfolio holdings being hedged. Any such imperfect correlation may prevent us from achieving the intended hedge and expose us to risk of loss. In addition, it may not be possible to hedge fully or perfectly against currency fluctuations affecting the value of securities denominated in non-U.S. currencies because the value of those securities is likely to fluctuate as a result of factors not related to currency fluctuations.

Risks Relating to Our Business and Structure

We are a new company with little operating history, and our investment adviser has only a limited history of investing experience.

We were initially formed in September 2010 and completed our initial public offering on April 28, 2011. As a result, we have limited financial information on which you can evaluate an investment in our company or our prior performance. In addition, our investment adviser, GSV Asset Management, was formed in November 2009, and has only a limited history of investing experience managing a pool of assets substantially smaller in size than the net proceeds that were received in the initial public offering. We are subject to all of the business risks and uncertainties associated with any new business, including the risk that we will not achieve our investment objective and that the value of your investment could decline substantially or fall to zero.

Any failure on our part to maintain our status as a business development company would reduce our operating flexibility.

We intend to continue to qualify as a business development company under the 1940 Act. The 1940 Act imposes numerous constraints on the operations of business development companies. For example, business development companies are required to invest at least 70% of their gross assets in specified types of securities, primarily in private companies or thinly-traded U.S. public companies, cash, cash equivalents, U.S. government securities and other high quality debt investments that mature in one year or less. Furthermore, any failure to comply with the requirements imposed on business development companies by the 1940 Act could cause the SEC to bring an enforcement action against us and/or expose us to claims of private litigants. In addition, upon approval of a majority of our stockholders, we may elect to withdraw our status as a business development company. If we decide to withdraw our election, or if we otherwise fail to qualify, or maintain our qualification, as a business development company, we may be subject to the substantially greater regulation under the 1940 Act as a closed-end investment company. Compliance with such regulations would significantly decrease our operating flexibility, and could significantly increase our costs of doing business. If we do not remain a business development company, we might be regulated as a closed-end investment company under the 1940 Act, which would subject us to substantially more regulatory restrictions under the 1940 Act and correspondingly decrease our operating flexibility.

We are dependent upon GSV Asset Management’s senior investment professionals for our future success, particularly Michael T. Moe, Stephen D. Bard, Luben Pampoulov and Matthew Hanson. If we lose any of our investment adviser’s senior investment professionals, our ability to implement our business strategy could be significantly harmed.

We depend on the diligence, skill and network of business contacts of the GSV Asset Management’s senior investment professionals. These senior investment professionals, together with other investment professionals employed by GSV Asset Management, evaluate, negotiate, structure, close, monitor and service our investments. Our future success will depend to a significant extent on the continued service and coordination of our investment adviser’s senior investment professionals, particularly Michael T. Moe, Stephen D. Bard, Luben Pampoulov and Matthew Hanson. None of Messrs. Moe, Bard, Pampoulov or Hanson is subject to an employment contract, and none receive any compensation from us. None of Messrs. Moe, Bard, Pampoulov or Hanson devote all of their business time to our operations, and each have other demands on their time as a result of their other activities. The departure of any of these individuals could have a material adverse effect on our ability to achieve our investment objective.

None of the GSV Asset Management’s senior investment professionals or Advisory Board members, including Michael T. Moe, Stephen D. Bard, David V. Crowder, Luben Pampoulov and Matthew Hanson, are subject to employment agreements, and there can be no assurance that our investment adviser will be successful in retaining its senior investment professionals.

None of the members of GSV Asset Management’s senior investment professionals or its Advisory Board members, including Michael T. Moe, Stephen D. Bard, David V. Crowder, Luben Pampoulov and Matthew Hanson, are subject to employment agreements. As a result, although Messrs. Moe, Bard, Pampoulov and Hanson comprise the principals of GSV Asset Management, they are free to terminate their employment with GSV Asset Management at any time. In addition, none of our investment adviser’s senior investment professionals or the Advisory Board members, including Messrs. Moe, Bard, Crowder, Pampoulov and Hanson, are subject to any non-compete agreements that would restrict their ability to provide investment advisory services to an entity with an investment objective similar to our own in the event they were to terminate their employment with GSV Asset Management, or if GSV Asset Management were to no longer serve as our investment adviser. There can be no assurance that our investment adviser will be successful in retaining its senior investment professionals or the Advisory Board members, including Messrs. Moe, Bard, Crowder, Pampoulov and Hanson. The departure of any of Messrs. Moe, Bard, Crowder, Pampoulov or Hanson could have a material adverse effect on our ability to achieve our investment objective.

Our growth will require that GSV Asset Management retain and attract new investment and administrative personnel in a competitive market. Its ability to attract and retain personnel with the requisite credentials, experience and skills will depend on several factors including, but not limited to, its ability to offer competitive wages, benefits and professional growth opportunities. Many of the entities with which GSV Asset Management will compete for experienced personnel, including investment funds (such as private equity funds and mezzanine funds) and traditional financial services companies, will have greater resources than it.

Our financial condition and results of operations will depend on our ability to achieve our investment objective.

We are a newly organized company. As such, we are subject to the business risks and uncertainties associated with any new business enterprise. Our ability to achieve our investment objective will depend on our investment adviser’s ability to identify, analyze and invest in companies that meet our investment criteria. Accomplishing this result on a cost-effective basis is largely a function of our investment adviser’s structuring of the investment process and its ability to provide competent, attentive and efficient services to us. We seek a specified number of investments in rapidly growing venture capital-backed emerging companies, which may be extremely risky. There can be no assurance that GSV Asset Management will be successful in identifying and investing in companies that meet our investment criteria, or that we will achieve our investment objective.

In addition to monitoring the performance of our existing investments, GSV Asset Management is required to offer, and may be called upon, to provide, managerial assistance to some of our portfolio companies. GSV Asset Management also currently manages GSV X Fund, LP (“GSV X Fund”), a global long/short absolute return fund, in which we have no economic interest. These demands on their time may distract them or slow the rate of investment. Even if we are able to grow and build upon our investment operations, any failure to manage our growth effectively could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition, results of operations and prospects. The results of our operations will depend on many factors, including the availability of opportunities for investment, readily accessible short and long-term funding alternatives in the financial markets and economic conditions. Furthermore, if we cannot successfully operate our business or implement our investment policies and strategies as described herein, it could negatively impact our ability to pay dividends.

We will likely experience fluctuations in our quarterly results and we may be unable to replicate past investment opportunities or make the types of investments we have made to date in future periods.

We will likely experience fluctuations in our quarterly operating results due to a number of factors, including the rate at which we make new investments, the level of our expenses, variations in and the timing of the recognition of realized and unrealized gains or losses, the degree to which we encounter competition in our markets and general economic conditions. These fluctuations may in certain cases be exaggerated as a result of our focus on realizing capital gains rather than current income from our investments. In addition, there can be no assurance that we will be able to locate or acquire investments that are of a similar nature to those currently in our portfolio. As a result of these factors, results for any period should not be relied upon as being indicative of performance in future periods.

Our business model depends upon the development and maintenance of strong referral relationships with private equity and venture capital funds and investment banking firms.

We are substantially dependent on our informal relationships, which we use to help identify and gain access to investment opportunities. If we fail to maintain our relationships with key firms, or if we fail to establish strong referral relationships with other firms or other sources of investment opportunities, we will not be able to grow our portfolio of equity investments and achieve our investment objective. In addition, persons with whom we have informal relationships are not obligated to inform us of investment opportunities, and therefore such relationships may not lead to the origination of equity or other investments. Any loss or diminishment of such relationships could effectively reduce our ability to identify attractive portfolio companies that meet our investment criteria, either for direct equity investments or for investments through private secondary market transactions or other secondary transactions.

There are significant potential risks relating to investing in securities traded on private secondary marketplaces.

We have and expect to continue to utilize private secondary marketplaces, such as SharesPost and SecondMarket, to acquire investments in our portfolio. We generally have little or no direct access to financial or other information from the portfolio companies with respect to which we invest through such private secondary marketplaces. As a result, we are dependent upon the relationships and contacts of our investment adviser’s senior investment professionals, its Advisory Board members and our board of directors to obtain the information for our investment adviser to perform research and due diligence, and to monitor our investments after they are made. There can be no assurance that our investment adviser will be able to acquire adequate information on which to make its investment decision with respect to any private secondary marketplace purchases, or that the information it is able to obtain is accurate or complete. Any failure to obtain full and complete information regarding the portfolio companies with respect to which we invest through private secondary marketplaces could cause us to lose part or all of our investment in such companies, which would have a material and adverse effect on our net asset value and results of operations.

In addition, while we believe the ability to trade on private secondary marketplaces provides valuable opportunities for liquidity, there can be no assurance that the portfolio companies with respect to which we invest through private secondary marketplaces will have or maintain active trading markets, and the prices of those securities may be subject to irregular trading activity, wide bid/ask spreads and extended trade settlement periods, which may cause an inability for us to realize full value on our investment. In addition, wide swings in market prices, which are typical of irregularly traded securities, could cause significant and unexpected declines in the value of our portfolio investments. Further, prices in private secondary marketplaces, where limited information is available, may not accurately reflect the true value of a portfolio company, and may overstate a portfolio company’s actual value, which may cause us to realize future capital losses on our investment in that portfolio company. If any of the foregoing were to occur, it would likely have a material and adverse effect on our net asset value and results of operations.

Investments in private companies, including through private secondary marketplaces, also entail additional legal and regulatory risks which expose participants to the risk of liability due to the imbalance of information among participants and participant qualification and other transactional requirements applicable to private securities transactions, the non-compliance with which could result in rescission rights and monetary and other sanctions. The application of these laws within the context of private secondary marketplaces and related market practices are still evolving, and, despite our efforts to comply with applicable laws, we could be exposed to liability. The regulation of private secondary marketplaces is also evolving. Additional state or federal regulation of these markets could result in limits on the operation of or activity on those markets. Conversely, deregulation of these markets could make it easier for investors to invest directly in private companies and affect the attractiveness of our company as an access vehicle for investment in private shares. Private companies may also increasingly seek to limit secondary trading in their stock, such as through contractual transfer restrictions, and provisions in company charter documents, investor rights of first refusal and co-sale and/or employment and trading policies further restricting trading. To the extent that these or other developments result in reduced trading activity and/or availability of private company shares, our ability to find investment opportunities and to liquidate our investments could be adversely affected.

Due to transfer restrictions and the illiquid nature of our investments, we may not be able to purchase or sell our investments when we wish to do so.

Most of our investments are or will be in equity or equity-related securities of privately-held companies. The securities we acquire in private companies are typically subject to contractual transfer limitations, which may include prohibitions on transfer without the company’s consent may require that shares owned by us to held in escrow and may include provisions in company charter documents, investor rights of first refusal and co-sale and/or employment and trading policies further restricting trading. In order to complete a purchase of shares we may need to, among other things, give the issuer, its assignees or its stockholders a particular period of time, often 30 days or more, in which to exercise a veto right, or a right of first refusal over, the sale of such securities. We may be unable to complete a purchase transaction if the subject company or its stockholders chooses to exercise a veto right or right of first refusal. When we complete an investment, we generally become bound to the contractual transfer limitations imposed on subject company stockholders as well as other contractual obligations, such as co-sale or tag-along rights. These obligations generally expire only upon an IPO by the subject company. As a result, prior to an IPO, our ability to liquidate may be constrained. Transfer restrictions could limit our ability to liquidate our positions in these securities if we are unable to find buyers acceptable to our portfolio companies, or where applicable, their stockholders. Such buyers may not be willing to purchase our investments at adequate prices or in volumes sufficient to liquidate our position, and even where they are willing, other stockholders could exercise their co-sales or tag-along rights to participate in the sale, thereby reducing the number of shares sellable by us. Furthermore, prospective buyers may be deterred from entering into purchase transactions with us due to the delay and uncertainty that these transfer and other limitations create.

Although we believe that secondary marketplaces may offer an opportunity to liquidate our private company investments, there can be no assurance that a trading market will develop for the securities that we wish to liquidate or that the subject companies will permit their shares to be sold through such marketplaces. Even if some of our portfolio companies complete IPOs, we are typically subject to lock-up provisions that prohibit us from selling our investments into the public market for specified periods of time after IPOs. As a result, the market price of securities that we hold may decline substantially before we are able to sell these securities following an IPO.

Due to the illiquid nature of most of our investments, we may not be able to sell these securities at times when we deem it advantageous to do so, or at all. Because our net asset value is only determined on a quarterly basis and due to the difficulty in assessing this value, our net asset value may not fully reflect the illiquidity of our portfolio, which may change on daily basis, depending on many factors, including the status of the private secondary markets and our particular portfolio at any given time.

There are significant potential risks associated with investing in venture capital and private equity-backed companies with complex capital structures.

We invest primarily in rapidly growing venture capital-backed emerging companies, either through private secondary transactions, other secondary transactions or direct investments in companies. Such private companies frequently have much more complex capital structures than traditional publicly-traded companies, and may have multiple classes of equity securities with differing rights, including with respect to voting and distributions. In addition, it is often difficult to obtain financial and other information with respect to private companies, and even where we are able to obtain such information, there can be no assurance that it is complete or accurate. In certain cases, such private companies may also have senior or pari passu preferred stock or senior debt outstanding, which may heighten the risk of investing in the underlying equity of such private companies, particularly in circumstances when we have limited information with respect to such capital structures. Although we believe that our investment adviser’s senior investment professionals, our Advisory Board members and our board of directors have extensive experience evaluating and investing in private companies with such complex capital structures, there can be no assurance that we will be able to adequately evaluate the relative risks and benefits of investing in a particular class of a portfolio company’s equity securities. Any failure on our part to properly evaluate the relative rights and value of a class of securities in which we invest could cause us to lose part or all of our investment, which in turn could have a material and adverse effect on our net asset value and results of operations.

A disruption in the capital markets or the credit markets could negatively affect our business.

As a business development company, we need the ability to raise additional capital for investment purposes. Without sufficient access to the capital markets, we may be forced to curtail our business operations or we may not be able to pursue new business opportunities. Disruptive conditions in the financial industry and any new legislation in response to those conditions could restrict our business operations and could adversely impact our results of operations and financial condition.

Although we do not anticipate borrowing funds for investment purposes, to the extent we do utilize leverage and the fair value of our assets declines substantially, we may fail to maintain the asset coverage ratios imposed upon us by the 1940 Act. Any such failure would affect our ability to issue senior securities, including borrowings, and pay dividends, which could materially impair our business operations. Our liquidity could be impaired further by an inability to access the capital markets. For example, we cannot be certain that we will be able to raise additional equity capital to provide funding for normal operations, including new investments. Reflecting concern about the stability of the financial markets, many institutional investors have reduced or ceased providing funding to certain borrowers. This market turmoil has led to increased market volatility and widespread reduction of business activity generally.

We operate in a highly competitive market for direct equity investment opportunities.

A large number of entities compete with us to make the types of direct equity investments that we target as part of our business strategy. We compete for such investments with a large number of private equity and venture capital funds, other equity and non-equity based investment funds, investment banks and other sources of financing, including traditional financial services companies such as commercial banks and specialty finance companies. Many of our competitors are substantially larger than us and have considerably greater financial, technical and marketing resources than we do. For example, some competitors may have a lower cost of funds and access to funding sources that are not available to us. In addition, some of our competitors may have higher risk tolerances or different risk assessments, which could allow them to consider a wider variety of investments and establish more relationships than us. Furthermore, many of our competitors are not subject to the regulatory restrictions that the 1940 Act imposes on us as a business development company. There can be no assurance that the competitive pressures we face will not have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations. Also, as a result of this competition, we may not be able to take advantage of attractive investment opportunities from time to time, and we can offer no assurance that we will be able to identify and make direct equity investments that are consistent with our investment objective.

The incentive fee may induce GSV Asset Management to make speculative investments.

The incentive fee payable by us to GSV Asset Management may create an incentive for GSV Asset Management to make investments on our behalf that are risky or more speculative than would be the case in the absence of such compensation arrangement. Although no leverage is currently contemplated, the way in which the incentive fee payable to GSV Asset Management is determined, which is calculated as a percentage of the return on invested capital, may encourage GSV Asset Management to use leverage to increase the return on our investments. In addition, while we currently do not use borrowings or other leverage for investment purposes, the fact that our base management fee is payable based upon our gross assets, which is our total assets as reflected on our balance sheet (with no deduction for liabilities), may encourage GSV Asset Management to use leverage to make additional investments. We will be required, however, to obtain the approval of our board of directors before we incur any future indebtedness. Under certain circumstances, the use of leverage may increase the likelihood of default, which would disfavor holders of our common stock. Such a practice could result in our investing in more speculative securities than would otherwise be the case, which could result in higher investment losses, particularly during cyclical economic downturns.

In addition, our investment adviser has control over the timing of the acquisition and dispositions of our investments, and therefore over when we realize gains and losses on our investments. As a result, our investment adviser may face a conflict of interest in determining when it is appropriate to dispose of a specific investment to the extent doing so may serve to maximize its incentive fee at a point where disposing of such investment may not necessarily be in the best interests of our stockholders. Our board of directors monitors such conflicts of interest in connection with its review of the performance of our investment adviser under our Investment Advisory Agreement, as well as during its quarterly review of our financial performance and results of operations.

We may borrow money, which would magnify the potential for gain or loss on amounts invested and may increase the risk of investing in us.

Borrowings, also known as leverage, magnify the potential for gain or loss on amounts invested and, therefore, increase the risks associated with investing in our securities. Although we do not currently anticipate incurring leverage, if we do so we may borrow from and issue senior debt securities to banks, insurance companies and other lenders. Lenders of such senior securities would have fixed dollar claims on our assets that are superior to the claims of our common stockholders. If the value of our assets increases, then leveraging would cause the net asset value attributable to our common stock to increase more sharply than it would have had we not leveraged. Conversely, if the value of our assets decreases, leveraging would cause net asset value to decline more sharply than it otherwise would have had we not leveraged. Similarly, any increase in our income in excess of interest payable on the borrowed funds would cause our net income to increase more than it would without the leverage, while any decrease in our income would cause net income to decline more sharply than it would have had we not borrowed. Leverage is generally considered a speculative investment technique. Our ability to service any debt that we incur will depend largely on our financial performance and will be subject to prevailing economic conditions and competitive pressures. Moreover, as the management fee payable to GSV Asset Management will be payable on our gross assets, including those assets acquired through the use of leverage, GSV Asset Management may have a financial incentive to incur leverage which may not be consistent with our stockholders’ interests. In addition, our common stockholders will bear the burden of any increase in our expenses as a result of leverage, including any increase in the management fee payable to GSV Asset Management.

There are significant potential conflicts of interest, which could impact our investment returns and limit the flexibility of our investment policies.

We have entered into an Investment Advisory Agreement with GSV Asset Management. GSV Asset Management is controlled by Michael T. Moe, our president, chief executive officer and chairman of our board of directors and Stephen D. Bard, our chief financial officer, chief compliance officer, treasurer and corporate secretary. Messrs. Moe and Bard, as principals of GSV Asset Management, collectively manage the business and internal affairs of GSV Asset Management. In addition, GSV Capital Service Company provides us with office facilities and administrative services pursuant to an Administration Agreement. Mr. Moe is the managing member of and controls GSV Capital Service Company. While there is no limit on the total amount of expenses we may be required to reimburse to GSV Capital Service Company, our administrator will only charge us for the actual expenses it incurs on our behalf, or our allocable portion thereof, without any profit to GSV Capital Service Company.

In addition, our executive officers and directors, and the principals of our investment adviser, GSV Asset Management, serve or may serve as officers and directors of entities that operate in a line of business similar to our own, including new entities that may be formed in the future. Accordingly, they may have obligations to investors in those entities, the fulfillment of which might not be in the best interests of us or our stockholders, such as, for example, the management of GSV X Fund by GSV Asset Management.

While the investment focus of each of these entities may be different from our investment objective, it is likely that from time to time new investment opportunities that meet our investment objective will come to the attention of one of these entities, or new entities that will likely be formed in the future in connection with another investment advisory client or program, and, if so, such opportunity might not be offered, or otherwise made available, to us. However, our executive officers, directors and investment adviser intend to treat us in a fair and equitable manner consistent with their applicable duties under law so that we will not be disadvantaged in relation to any other particular client. In addition, while GSV Asset Management anticipates that it will from time to time identify investment opportunities that are appropriate for both GSV Capital and the other funds that are currently or in the future may be managed by GSV Asset Management, to the extent it does identify such opportunities, GSV Asset Management will establish an allocation policy to ensure that GSV Capital has priority over such other funds. Our board of directors will monitor on a quarterly basis any such allocation of investment opportunities between GSV Capital and any such other funds.

GSV Asset Management is the owner of the “GSV” name and marks, which we are permitted to use pursuant to a non-exclusive license agreement between us and GSV Asset Management. GSV Asset Management and its principals also use and may permit other entities to use the “GSV” name and marks in connection with businesses and activities unrelated to our operations. The use of the “GSV” name and marks in connection with businesses and activities unrelated to our operations may not be in the best interest of us or our stockholder and may result in actual or perceived conflicts of interest.

In the ordinary course of business, we may enter into transactions with portfolio companies that may be considered related party transactions. In order to ensure that we do not engage in any prohibited transactions with any persons affiliated with us, we have implemented certain written policies and procedures whereby our executive officers screen each of our transactions for any possible affiliations between the proposed portfolio investment, us, companies controlled by us and our executive officers and directors. We will not enter into any agreements unless and until we are satisfied that doing so will not raise concerns under the 1940 Act or, if such concerns exist, we have taken appropriate actions to seek board review and approval or exemptive relief for such transaction. Our board of directors will review these procedures on an annual basis.

We have also adopted a Code of Ethics which applies to, among others, our senior officers, including our chief executive officer and chief financial officer, as well as all of our officers, directors and employees. Our officers and directors also remain subject to the fiduciary obligations imposed by both the 1940 Act and applicable state corporate law. Our Code of Ethics requires that all employees and directors avoid any conflict, or the appearance of a conflict, between an individual’s personal interests and our interests. Pursuant to our Code of Ethics, each employee and director must disclose any conflicts of interest, or actions or relationships that might give rise to a conflict, to our chief compliance officer. Our board of directors is charged with approving any waivers under our Code of Ethics. As required by the NASDAQ corporate governance listing standards, the Audit Committee of our board of directors is also required to review and approve any transactions with related parties, as such term is defined in Item 404 of Regulation S-K. In accordance with Item 404, related parties generally include our directors and executive officers, any nominees for director, any immediate family member of a director or executive officer or nominee for director, and any other person sharing the household of such director, executive officer or nominee for director.

Finally, we pay GSV Capital Service Company our allocable portion of overhead and other expenses incurred by GSV Capital Service Company in performing its obligations under the Administration Agreement, including a portion of the rent and the compensation of our chief financial officer and chief compliance officer and any administrative support personnel, which creates conflicts of interest that our board of directors must monitor.

Our investment adviser has the right to resign on 60 days’ notice, and we may not be able to find a suitable replacement within that time, resulting in a disruption in our operations that could adversely affect our financial condition, business and results of operations.

Our investment adviser has the right, under the Investment Advisory Agreement, to resign at any time upon not more than 60 days’ written notice, whether we have found a replacement or not. If our investment adviser resigns, we may not be able to find a new investment adviser or hire internal management with similar expertise and ability to provide the same or equivalent services on acceptable terms within 60 days, or at all. If we are unable to do so quickly, our operations are likely to experience a disruption, our financial condition, business and results of operations as well as our ability to pay distributions are likely to be adversely affected and the market price of our shares may decline. In addition, the coordination of our internal management and investment activities is likely to suffer if we are unable to identify and reach an agreement with a single institution or group of executives having the expertise possessed by our investment adviser and its affiliates. Even if we are able to retain comparable management, whether internal or external, the integration of such management and their lack of familiarity with our investment objective may result in additional costs and time delays that may adversely affect our financial condition, business and results of operations.

The lack of experience of our investment adviser and its management in operating under the constraints imposed on us as a business development company may hinder the achievement of our investment objectives.

The 1940 Act imposes numerous constraints on the operations of business development companies. For example, business development companies are required to invest at least 70% of their total assets primarily in securities of U.S.-based private companies or public companies with market capitalizations of less than $250 million, cash, cash equivalents, U.S. government securities and other high quality debt instruments that mature in one year or less. In addition, qualification for taxation as a RIC requires satisfaction of source-of-income, diversification and distribution requirements. GSV Asset Management does not have experience investing under these constraints. These constraints, among others, may hinder GSV Asset Management’s ability to take advantage of attractive investment opportunities and to achieve our investment objective.

We may have difficulty paying our required distributions if we recognize income before or without receiving cash representing such income.

Although we focus on achieving capital gains from our investments, in certain cases we may receive current income, such as interest or dividends, on our investments. Because in certain cases we may recognize such current income before or without receiving cash representing such income, we may have difficulty satisfying the annual distribution requirement applicable to RICs. Accordingly, we may have to sell some of our investments at times we would not consider advantageous, raise additional debt or equity capital or reduce new investments to meet these distribution requirements. If we are not able to obtain cash from other sources, we may fail to qualify for RIC tax treatment and thus be subject to corporate-level income tax.

Regulations governing our operation as a business development company affect our ability to, and the way in which we raise additional capital, which may expose us to risks, including the typical risks associated with leverage.

Although we have not used leverage and have no present intent to issue preferred stock, we may in the future issue debt securities or preferred stock and/or borrow money from banks or other financial institutions, which we refer to collectively as “senior securities,” up to the maximum amount permitted by the 1940 Act. Under the provisions of the 1940 Act, we will be permitted, as a business development company, to issue senior securities in amounts such that our asset coverage ratio, as defined in the 1940 Act, equals at least 200% of gross assets less all liabilities and indebtedness not represented by senior securities, after each issuance of senior securities. If the value of our assets declines, we may be unable to satisfy this test. If that happens, we may be required to sell a portion of our investments and, depending on the nature of our leverage, repay a portion of our indebtedness at a time when such sales may be disadvantageous. Furthermore, any amounts that we use to service our indebtedness would not be available for distributions to our common stockholders.

If in the future we issue debt or preferred stock, all of the costs of offering and servicing such debt or preferred stock, including interest or preferential dividend payments thereon, will be borne by our common stockholders. The interests of the holders of any debt or preferred stock we may issue will not necessarily be aligned with the interests of our common stockholders. In particular, the rights of holders of our debt or preferred stock to receive interest, dividends or principal repayment will be senior to those of our common stockholders. Also, in the event we issue preferred stock, the holders of such preferred stock will have the ability to elect two members of our board of directors. In addition, we may grant a lender a security interest in a significant portion or all of our assets, even if the total amount we may borrow from such lender is less than the amount of such lender’s security interest in our assets. In no event, however, will any lender to us have any veto power over, or any vote with respect to, any change in our, or approval of any new, investment objective or investment policies or strategies.

We are not generally able to issue and sell our common stock at a price below net asset value per share. We may, however, sell our common stock, or warrants, options or rights to acquire our common stock, at a price below the then-current net asset value of our common stock if our board of directors determines that such sale is in the best interests of GSV Capital and its stockholders, and our stockholders approve such sale. In any such case, the price at which our securities are to be issued and sold may not be less than a price which, in the determination of our board of directors, closely approximates the market value of such securities (less any distributing commission or discount). We are also generally prohibited under the 1940 Act from issuing securities convertible into voting securities without obtaining the approval of our existing stockholders.

We will be subject to corporate-level income tax if we are unable to qualify as a regulated investment company, or RIC.

Although we intend to elect to be treated as a RIC under Subchapter M of the Code beginning in 2013 and to continue to qualify as a RIC in succeeding taxable years, no assurance can be given that we will be able to qualify for and maintain RIC status. In order to qualify for the special treatment accorded to RICs, we must meet certain income source, asset diversification and annual distribution requirements. In order to satisfy the income source requirement, we must derive in each taxable year at least 90% of our gross income from dividends, interest, payments with respect to certain securities loans, gains from the sale of stock or other securities or foreign currencies, other income derived with respect to our business of investing in such stock or securities or income from “qualified publicly traded partnerships”. To qualify as a RIC, we must also meet certain asset diversification requirements at the end of each quarter of our taxable year. Failure to meet these tests may result in our having to dispose of certain investments quickly in order to prevent the loss of RIC status. Because most of our investments will be in private companies, any such dispositions could be made at disadvantageous prices and could result in substantial losses. In order to satisfy the annual distribution requirement for a RIC, we must distribute at least 90% of our ordinary income and realized net short-term capital gains in excess of realized net long-term capital losses, if any, to our stockholders on an annual basis. Although no leverage is currently contemplated, because we may use debt financing in the future, we may be subject to certain asset coverage ratio requirements under the 1940 Act and financial covenants under loan and credit agreements that could, under certain circumstances, restrict us from making distributions necessary to satisfy the annual distribution requirement. If we are unable to obtain cash from other sources, we may fail to qualify for special tax treatment as a RIC and, thus, may be subject to corporate-level income tax on all our income. If we fail to qualify as a RIC for any reason and become subject to corporate income tax, the resulting corporate-level federal taxes could substantially reduce our net assets, the amount of income available for distribution and the amount of our distributions. Such a failure would have a material adverse effect on us and our stockholders.

Even in the event the value of your investment declines, the base management fee will still be payable.

The base management fee will be calculated at an annual rate of 2.0% of the value of our gross assets, which we pay monthly in arrears. The base management fee is payable regardless of whether the value of our gross assets or your investment declines. As a result, we will owe GSV Asset Management a base management fee regardless of whether we incurred significant realized capital losses and unrealized capital depreciation (losses) during the period for which the base management fee is paid.

We incur significant costs as a result of being a publicly traded company.

As a publicly traded company, we incur legal, accounting and other expenses, including costs associated with the periodic reporting requirements applicable to a company whose securities are registered under the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended, or the Exchange Act, as well as additional corporate governance requirements, including requirements under the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002, and other rules implemented by the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Our board of directors is authorized to reclassify any unissued shares of stock into one or more classes of preferred stock, which could convey special rights and privileges to its owners.

Our charter permits our board of directors to reclassify any authorized but unissued shares of stock into one or more classes of preferred stock. Our board of directors will generally have broad discretion over the size and timing of any such reclassification, subject to a finding that the reclassification and issuance of such preferred stock is in the best interests of GSV Capital and our existing common stockholders. Any issuance of preferred stock would be subject to certain limitations imposed under the 1940 Act, including the requirement that such preferred stock have equal voting rights with our outstanding common stock. See “Description of Securities — Preferred Stock.” We are authorized to issue up to 100,000,000 shares of common stock. In the event our board of directors opts to reclassify a portion of our unissued shares of common stock into a class of preferred stock, those preferred shares would have a preference over our common stock with respect to dividends and liquidation. The cost of any such reclassification would be borne by our existing common stockholders. In addition, the 1940 Act provides that holders of preferred stock are entitled to vote separately from holders of common stock to elect two directors. As a result, our preferred stockholders will have the ability to reject a director that would otherwise be elected by our common stockholders. In addition, while Maryland law generally requires directors to act in the best interests of all of a corporation’s stockholders, there can be no assurance that a director elected by our preferred stockholders will not chose to act in a manner that tends to favors our preferred stockholders, particularly where there is a conflict between the interests of our preferred stockholders and our common stockholders. The class voting rights of any preferred shares we may issue could make it more difficult for us to take some actions that may, in the future, be proposed by the board of directors and/or the holders of our common stock, such as a merger, exchange of securities, liquidation, or alteration of the rights of a class of our securities, if these actions were perceived by the holders of preferred shares as not in their best interests. The issuance of preferred shares convertible into shares of common stock might also reduce the net income and net asset value per share of our common stock upon conversion. These effects, among others, could have an adverse effect on your investment in our common stock.

Our board of directors may change our investment objective, operating policies and strategies without prior notice or stockholder approval, the effects of which may be adverse.

Our board of directors has the authority to modify or waive our investment objective, current operating policies, investment criteria and strategies without prior notice and without stockholder approval. We cannot predict the effect any changes to our current operating policies, investment criteria and strategies would have on our business, net asset value, operating results and value of our stock. However, the effects might be adverse, which could negatively impact our ability to pay you dividends and cause you to lose all or part of your investment.

Changes in laws or regulations governing our operations may adversely affect our business.

We and our portfolio companies are subject to regulation by laws at the local, state and federal levels. These laws and regulations, as well as their interpretation, may be changed from time to time. Any change in these laws or regulations could have a material adverse effect on our business and the value of your investment.

Provisions of the Maryland General Corporation Law and of our charter and bylaws could deter takeover attempts and have an adverse impact on the price of our common stock.

Our charter and bylaws, as well as certain statutory and regulatory requirements, contain certain provisions that may have the effect of discouraging a third party from making an acquisition proposal for us. Our bylaws contain a provision exempting any and all acquisitions by any person of our shares of stock from the Control Share Act under the Maryland General Corporation Law. If our board of directors does not otherwise approve a business combination, the Control Share Act (if we amend our bylaws to be subject to that Act) may discourage others from trying to acquire control of us and increase the difficulty of consummating any offer. Additionally, under our charter, our board of directors is divided into three classes serving staggered terms; our board of directors may, without stockholder action, authorize the issuance of shares of stock in one or more classes or series, including preferred stock; and our board of directors may, without stockholder action, amend our charter to increase the number of shares of stock of any class or series that we have authority to issue. These antitakeover provisions may inhibit a change of control in circumstances that could otherwise give the holders of our common stock the opportunity to realize a premium over the market price for our common stock.

Risks Related to an Investment in Our Common Stock

Our common stock price may be volatile and may decrease substantially.

The trading price of our common stock may fluctuate substantially. The price of our common stock that will prevail in the market after any future offering may be higher or lower than the price you pay, depending on many factors, some of which are beyond our control and may not be directly related to our operating performance. These factors include, but are not limited to, the following:

In the past, following periods of volatility in the market price of a company’s securities, securities class action litigation has often been brought against that company. Due to the potential volatility of our stock price, we may therefore be the target of securities litigation in the future. Securities litigation could result in substantial costs and divert management’s attention and resources from our business.

Our shares have historically traded, and may in the future trade at premiums that may prove to be unsustainable or at discounts from net asset value.

Shares of business development companies like us may, during some periods, trade at prices higher than their net asset value per share and, during other periods, as frequently occurs with closed-end investment companies, trade at prices lower than their net asset value per share. The perceived value of our investment portfolio may be affected by a number of factors including perceived prospects for individual companies we invest in, market conditions for common stock generally, for initial public offerings and other exit events for venture capital-backed companies, and the mix of companies in our investment portfolio over time. Negative or unforeseen developments affecting the perceived value of companies in our investment portfolio could result in a decline in the trading price of our common stock relative to our net asset value per share.

The possibility that our shares will trade at a discount from net asset value or at premiums that are unsustainable are risks separate and distinct from the risk that our net asset value per share will decrease. The risk of purchasing shares of a business development company that might trade at a discount or unsustainable premium is more pronounced for investors who wish to sell their shares in a relatively short period of time because, for those investors, realization of a gain or loss on their investments is likely to be more dependent upon changes in premium or discount levels than upon increases or decreases in net asset value per share.

There is a risk that you may not receive dividends or that our dividends may not grow over time, particularly since we invest primarily in securities that do not produce current income.

We cannot assure you that we will achieve investment results or maintain a tax status that will allow or require any specified level of cash distributions or year-to-year increases in cash distributions. As we intend to focus on making primarily capital gains-based investments in equity securities, which generally will not be income producing, we do not anticipate that we will pay dividends on a quarterly basis or become a predictable issuer of dividends, and we expect that our dividends, if any, will be less consistent than other business development companies that primarily make debt investments.

We have broad discretion over the use of proceeds from our offerings, to the extent they are successful, and will use proceeds in part to satisfy operating expenses.

We have significant flexibility in applying the proceeds of our offerings and may use the net proceeds from such offerings in ways with which you may not agree, or for purposes other than those contemplated at the time of the offering. We cannot assure you that we will be able to successfully utilize the proceeds within the timeframe contemplated. We will also pay operating expenses, and may pay other expenses such as due diligence expenses of potential new investments, from net proceeds. Our ability to achieve our investment objective may be limited to the extent that the net proceeds of an offering, pending full investment, are used to pay operating expenses. In addition, we can provide you no assurance that any such offerings will be successful, or that by increasing the size of our available equity capital our aggregate expenses, and correspondingly, our expense ratio, will be lowered.

Not applicable.

Our corporate headquarters are located at 2925 Woodside Road, Woodside, California, in the offices of GSV Capital Service Company. We do not own or lease any office space directly; however, we will pay a portion of the rent as allocated to us by GSV Capital Service Company. Our office facilities are suitable and adequate for our business as it is presently conducted.

We are not currently subject to any material legal proceedings, nor, to our knowledge, is any material legal proceeding threatened against us. From time to time, we may be a party to certain legal proceedings in the ordinary course of business, including proceedings relating to the enforcement of our rights under contracts with our portfolio companies. While the outcome of these legal proceedings cannot be predicted with certainty, we do not expect that these proceedings will have a material effect upon our financial condition or results of operations.

Not applicable.

PART II

Our common stock is traded on the NASDAQ Capital Market under the symbol ‘‘GSVC’’. The following table sets forth, for each fiscal quarter since our initial public offering on April 28, 2011, the net asset value, or ‘‘NAV,’’ per share of our common stock, the high and low sales prices for our common stock, and such sales prices as a percentage of NAV per share. The last reported closing market price of our common stock on March 11, 2013 was $8.87. As of March 11, 2013, we had 127 shareholders of record, which include brokers and other institutions.

Shares of business development companies may trade at a market price that is less than the value of the net assets attributable to those shares. The possibility that our shares of common stock will trade at premiums that are unsustainable over the long term or at a discount from net asset value are separate and distinct from the risk that our net asset value will decrease. Since our initial public offering on April 28, 2011, our shares of common stock have traded at both a discount and a premium to the net assets attributable to those shares. As of December 31, 2012, our shares of common stock traded at a discount of approximately (35.5)% to our NAV per share of $13.07.

The timing and amount of our dividends, if any, will be determined by our board of directors. Any dividends to our stockholders will be declared out of assets legally available for distribution. We intend to focus on making capital gains-based investments. As a consequence, we do not anticipate that we will pay dividends on a quarterly basis or become a predictable issuer of dividends, and we expect that our dividends, if any, will be much less consistent than other business development companies that primarily make debt investments. However, to the extent there are earnings or realized capital gains to be distributed, we intend to declare and pay a dividend at least annually. We have not declared any dividends during the past two years.

We intend to elect to be treated, and intend to qualify annually thereafter, as a RIC under Subchapter M of the Code, beginning with our 2013 taxable year. To obtain and maintain RIC tax treatment, we must, among other things, distribute at least 90% of our ordinary income and realized net short-term capital gains in excess of realized net long-term capital losses, if any. In order to avoid certain excise taxes imposed on RICs, we currently intend to distribute during each calendar year an amount at least equal to the sum of (1) 98% of our ordinary income for the calendar year, (2) 98.2% of our capital gains in excess of capital losses for the one-year period ending on October 31 of the calendar year and (3) any ordinary income and net capital gains for preceding years that were not distributed during such years. In addition, although we currently intend to distribute realized net capital gains (i.e., net long-term capital gains in excess of net short-term capital losses), if any, at least annually, we may in the future decide to retain such capital gains for investment. If this happens, you will be treated as if you received an actual distribution of the capital gains we retain and reinvested the net after-tax proceeds in us. You also may be eligible to claim a tax credit (or, in certain circumstances, a tax refund) equal to your allocable share of the tax we paid on the capital gains deemed distributed to you. See ‘‘Material U.S. Federal Income Tax Considerations.’’ We can offer no assurance that we will achieve results that will permit the payment of any cash distributions and, to the extent that we issue senior securities, we will be prohibited from making distributions if doing so causes us to fail to maintain the asset coverage ratios stipulated by the 1940 Act or if distributions are limited by the terms of any of our borrowings.

Our current intention is to make any distributions out of assets legally available therefrom in additional shares of our common stock under our dividend reinvestment plan, unless you elect to receive your dividends and/or long-term capital gains distributions in cash. Under the dividend reinvestment plan, if a stockholder owns shares of common stock registered in its own name, the stockholder will have all cash distributions (net of any withholding) automatically reinvested in additional shares of common stock unless the stockholder opts out of our dividend reinvestment plan by delivering a written notice to our dividend paying agent prior to the record date of the next dividend or distribution. See ‘‘Dividend Reinvestment Plan.’’ Any distributions reinvested under the plan will nevertheless remain taxable to the U.S. stockholder, although no cash distribution has been made. As a result, if you do not elect to opt out of the dividend reinvestment plan, you will be required to pay applicable federal, state and local taxes on any reinvested dividends even though you will not receive a corresponding cash distribution. In addition, reinvested dividends have the effect of increasing our gross assets, which may correspondingly increase the management fee payable to our investment adviser. If you hold shares in the name of a broker or financial intermediary, you should contact the broker or financial intermediary regarding your election to receive distributions in cash.

Performance Graph

The following graph compares the return on our common stock with that of the Standard & Poor’s 500 Stock Index and the NASDAQ Stock Index, as we do not believe there is an appropriate index of companies with an investment strategy similar to our own with which to compare the return on our common stock, for the period from April 28, 2011 (the date of our initial public offering) to December 31, 2012. The graph assumes that, on April 28, 2011, a person invested $100 in each of our common stock, the Standard & Poor’s 500 Stock Index and the NASDAQ Stock Index. The graph measures total shareholder return, which takes into account both changes in stock price and dividends. It assumes that dividends are reinvested in like securities.

Dividend Reinvestment Plan

We have adopted a dividend reinvestment plan, through which all dividends are paid to stockholders in the form of additional shares of our common stock, unless a stockholder elects to receive cash as provided below. In this way, a stockholder can maintain an undiluted investment in us and still allow us to pay out the required distributable income.

No action is required on the part of a registered stockholder to receive a distribution in shares of our common stock. A registered stockholder may elect to receive an entire distribution in cash by notifying American Stock Transfer & Trust Company, the plan administrator and our transfer agent and registrar, in writing so that such notice is received by the plan administrator no later than 10 days prior to the record date for distributions to stockholders. The plan administrator will set up an account for shares acquired through the plan for each stockholder who has not elected to receive distributions in cash and hold such shares in non-certificated form. Upon request by a participant, received in writing not less than 10 days prior to the record date, the plan administrator will, instead of crediting shares to the participant’s account, issue a certificate registered in the participant’s name for the number of whole shares of our common stock and a check for any fractional share.

Those stockholders whose shares are held by a broker or other financial intermediary may receive distributions in cash by notifying their broker or other financial intermediary of their election.

We use only newly-issued shares to implement the plan, whether our shares are trading at a premium or at a discount to net asset value. The number of shares to be issued to a stockholder is determined by dividing the total dollar amount of the distribution payable to such stockholder by the market price per share of our common stock at the close of regular trading on the NASDAQ Capital Market on the valuation date for such distribution. Market price per share on that date will be the closing price for such shares on the NASDAQ Capital Market or, if no sale is reported for such day, at the average of their electronically-reported bid and asked prices. The number of shares of our common stock to be outstanding after giving effect to payment of the distribution cannot be established until the value per share at which additional shares will be issued has been determined and elections of our stockholders have been tabulated.

There is no charge to stockholders for receiving their distributions in the form of additional shares of our common stock. The plan administrator’s fees for handling distributions in stock are paid by us. There are no brokerage charges with respect to shares we have issued directly as a result of distributions payable in stock. If a participant elects by written or telephonic notice to the plan administrator to have the plan administrator sell part or all of the shares held by the plan administrator in the participant’s account and remit the proceeds to the participant, the plan administrator is authorized to deduct a $15 transaction fee plus brokerage commissions from the proceeds.

Stockholders who receive distributions in the form of stock are subject to the same federal, state and local tax consequences as are stockholders who elect to receive their distributions in cash. A stockholder’s basis for determining gain or loss upon the sale of stock received in a distribution from us will be equal to the total dollar amount of the distribution payable to the stockholder. As a result, if you do not elect to opt out of the dividend reinvestment plan, you will be required to pay applicable federal, state and local taxes on any reinvested dividends even though you will not receive a corresponding cash distribution. In addition, reinvested dividends have the effect of increasing our gross assets, which may correspondingly increase the management fee payable to our investment adviser.

The plan may be terminated by us upon notice in writing mailed to each participant at least 30 days prior to any record date for the payment of any dividend or distribution by us. All correspondence concerning the plan should be directed to the plan administrator by mail at 59 Maiden Lane, New York, New York 10038 or by phone at (800) 937-5449.

The following selected financial and other data for the year ended December 31, 2012 and for the period from January 6, 2011 (date of inception) to December 31, 2011 is derived from our financial statements. The data should be read in conjunction with our financial statements and notes thereto and “Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations,” which are included in this Annual Report.

Forward-Looking Statements

This annual report on Form 10-K contains forward-looking statements that involve substantial risks and uncertainties. These forward-looking statements are not historical facts, but rather are based on current expectations, estimates and projections about GSV Capital, our current and prospective portfolio investments, our industry, our beliefs, and our assumptions. Words such as ‘‘anticipates,’’ ‘‘expects,’’ ‘‘intends,’’ ‘‘plans,’’ ‘‘will,’’ ‘‘may,’’ ‘‘continue,’’ ‘‘believes,’’ ‘‘seeks,’’ ‘‘estimates,’’ ‘‘would,’’ ‘‘could,’’ ‘‘should,’’ ‘‘targets,’’ ‘‘projects,’’ and variations of these words and similar expressions are intended to identify forward-looking statements.

The forward looking statements contained in this annual report on Form 10-K involve risks and uncertainties, including statements as to:

These statements are not guarantees of future performance and are subject to risks, uncertainties, and other factors, some of which are beyond our control and difficult to predict and could cause actual results to differ materially from those expressed or forecasted in the forward-looking statements, including without limitation:

Although we believe that the assumptions on which these forward-looking statements are based are reasonable, any of those assumptions could prove to be inaccurate, and as a result, the forward-looking statements based on those assumptions also could be inaccurate. In light of these and other uncertainties, the inclusion of a projection or forward-looking statement in this annual report on Form 10-K should not be regarded as a representation by us that our plans and objectives will be achieved. These risks and uncertainties include those described or identified in ‘‘Risk Factors’’ and elsewhere in this annual report on Form 10-K. You should not place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements, which apply only as of the date of this annual report on Form 10-K.

The following analysis of our financial condition and results of operations should be read in conjunction with our financial statements and the related notes thereto contain elsewhere in this annual report on Form 10-K.

Overview

We are an externally managed, non-diversified closed-end management investment company that has elected to be treated as a business development company under the 1940 Act. Our investment objective is to maximize our portfolio’s total return, principally by seeking capital gains on our equity and equity-related investments. We invest principally in the equity securities of what we believe to be rapidly growing venture capital-backed emerging companies. We acquire our investments through secondary marketplaces for private companies, negotiations with selling stockholders and direct investments with prospective portfolio companies. We may also invest on an opportunistic basis in select publicly-traded equity securities or certain non-U.S. companies that otherwise meet our investment criteria. Our investment activities are managed by GSV Asset Management, and GSV Capital Service Company provides the administrative services necessary for us to operate.

Our investment philosophy is premised on a disciplined approach of identifying high-growth emerging companies across several key industry themes which may include, among others, social mobile, cloud computing and big data, internet commerce, green technology and education technology. Our investment adviser’s investment decisions are based on a disciplined analysis of available information regarding each potential portfolio company’s business operations, focusing on the company’s growth potential, the quality of recurring revenues and cash flow and cost structures, as well as an understanding of key market fundamentals. Many of the companies that our investment adviser evaluates have financial backing from top tier venture capital funds or other financial or strategic sponsors.

We seek to deploy capital primarily in the form of non-controlling equity and equity-related investments, including common stock, warrants, preferred stock and similar forms of senior equity, which may or may not be convertible into a portfolio company’s common equity, and convertible debt securities with a significant equity component. We anticipate that substantially all of the net proceeds of our most recent follow-on offering, which closed in May 2012, will be used for the above purposes within 12 months, depending on the availability of investment opportunities that are consistent with our investment objectives and market conditions.

We seek to create a low-turnover portfolio that includes investments in companies representing a broad range of investment themes. As of December 31, 2012, we have completed investments in 47 companies for aggregate consideration of approximately $236.5 million (exclusive of transaction fees and costs), or 85.1% of the net proceeds from our initial public offering and subsequent follow-on offerings. We expect that the total number of portfolio companies in which we are invested will increase as our equity capital base grows.

On April 28, 2011, we priced our initial public offering of 3,335,000 shares of our common stock at the offering price of $15.00 per share. The initial public offering closed on May 3, 2011, resulting in net proceeds to GSV Capital Corp. of approximately $46.5 million. On September 26, 2011, we priced a follow-on offering of 2,185,000 shares of our common stock at an offering price $14.15 per share. The follow-on offering included the full exercise of the underwriters’ option to purchase an additional 285,000 shares of our common stock, resulting in net proceeds to GSV Capital Corp. of approximately $29.6 million. On February 10, 2012, we priced a subsequent follow-on equity offering of 6,900,000 shares of our common stock at an offering price of $15.00 per share. The follow-on equity offering included the full exercise of the underwriters’ option to purchase an additional 900,000 shares of our common stock, resulting in net proceeds to GSV Capital Corp. of approximately $96.2 million. On May 11, 2012, we priced an additional follow-on equity offering of 6,900,000 shares of our common stock at an offering price of $16.25 per share. The follow-on offering included the full exercise of the underwriters’ option to purchase an additional 900,000 shares of our common stock, resulting in net proceeds to GSV Capital Corp. of approximately $105.4 million. Our shares are currently listed on the NASDAQ Capital Market under the symbol ‘‘GSVC’’.

Effective May 26, 2011, we changed our name from NeXt Innovation Corp. to GSV Capital Corp.

Investments

The fair value of our investments can be expected to fluctuate in future periods due to changes in our investments and changes in the fair value of the investments. The investments made during the year ended December 31, 2012 include:

We closed on an investment of $100,000, plus transaction costs, in AlwaysOn, LLC, a social media company, on January 10, 2012.

We closed on an investment of $200,000, plus transaction costs, in Maven Research, Inc., a global knowledge marketplace, on February 28, 2012.

We closed on an investment of $500,000, plus transaction costs, in AltEgo, LLC, an avatar technology and games developer, on February 29, 2012.

We closed on an investment of $4,000,000, plus transaction costs, in Chegg, Inc., an online textbook rental company, on March 7, 2012.

We closed on an investment of $150,000, plus transaction costs, in AlwaysOn, LLC, a social media company, on March 9, 2012.

We closed on an investment of $250,000, plus transaction costs, in The Echo System Corp., a social analytics company, on March 21, 2012.

We closed on an investment of $1,000,000, plus transaction costs, in StormWind, LLC, an electronic marketing and business services platform, on March 23, 2012.

We closed on an investment of $855,000, plus transaction costs, in Bloom Energy Corporation, a fuel cell energy company, on March 28, 2012.

We closed on an investment of $2,000,000, plus transaction costs, in CUX, Inc. (d/b/a CorpU), a corporate education company, on March 29, 2012.

We closed on an investment of $750,000, plus transaction costs, in The Echo System Corp., a social media company, on March 30, 2012.

We closed on an investment of $750,000, plus transaction costs, in The rSmart Group, Inc., a higher education learning platform, on March 30, 2012.

We closed on an investment of $1,143,800, plus transaction costs, in Bloom Energy Corporation, a fuel cell energy company, on April 4, 2012.

We closed on an investment of $9,999,996, plus transaction costs, in Violin Memory, Inc., a flash memory company, on April 11, 2012.

We closed on an investment of $4,000,000, plus transaction costs, in Top Hat, Inc., an internet commerce company, on April 13, 2012.

We closed on investments of $2,369,500, $1,277,500 and $350,000, plus transaction costs, in Control4 Corporation, a smart home automation company, on April 18, 2012, April 19, 2012 and April 20, 2012, respectively.

We closed on an investment of $2,999,998, plus transaction costs, in Global Education Learning (Holdings) Ltd., an Asia-focused education technology company, on April 19, 2012.

We closed on investments of $5,312,492, $4,875,010 and $7,312,498, plus transaction costs, in Twitter, Inc., a social communication company, on April 25, 2012, April 27, 2012, and April 30, 2012, respectively.

We closed on an investment of $3,800,000, plus transaction costs, in Silver Spring Networks, Inc., a smart grid company, on May 1, 2012.

We closed on an investment of $1,969,996, plus transaction costs, in Fullbridge, Inc., a business education company, on May 4, 2012.

We closed on investments of $888,384 and $2,674,048, plus transaction costs, in Palantir Technologies, Inc., a cyber-security company, on May 7, 2012 and May 11, 2012, respectively.

We closed on an investment of $10,000,000, plus transaction costs, in Avenues World Holdings LLC, a globally-focused private school, on May 9, 2012.

We closed on an investment of $6,858,500, plus transaction costs, in Dropbox, Inc., an online storage service, on May 11, 2012.

We closed on an investment of $200,000, plus transaction costs, in AltEgo, LLC, an avatar technology and games developer, on May 11, 2012.

We closed on an investment of $280,005, plus transaction costs, in Fullbridge, Inc., a business education company, on May 15, 2012.

We closed on investments of $40,500, $67,500 and $540,000, plus transaction costs, in Palantir Technologies, Inc., a cyber-security company, on May 16, 2012, May 21, 2012 and May 22, 2012, respectively.

We closed on an investment of $4,800,000, plus transaction costs, in Violin Memory, Inc., a flash memory company, on May 22, 2012.

We closed on an investment of $1,000,000, plus transaction costs, in NestGSV, Inc., an entrepreneurial education company, on May 25, 2012.

We closed on an investment of $1,900,000, plus transaction costs, in Twitter, Inc., a social communication company, on June 1, 2012.

We closed on an investment of $300,000, plus transaction costs, in AltEgo, LLC, an avatar technology and games developer, on June 15, 2012.

We closed on an investment of $10,000,000, plus transaction costs, in Solexel, Inc., a solar power company, on June 18, 2012.

We closed on investments of $2,400,000 and $1,600,000, plus transaction costs, in Chegg, Inc., an online textbook rental company, on June 20, 2012 and June 25, 2012, respectively.

We closed on an investment of $7,500,000, plus transaction costs, in Kno, Inc., an education software company, on June 27, 2012.

We closed on an investment of $2,000,000, plus transaction costs, in Dailybreak, Inc., a social advertising company, on June 29, 2012.

We closed on an investment of $1,999,999, plus transaction costs, in Dataminr, Inc., a social media analytics company, on July 2, 2012.

We closed on an investment of $1,999,998, plus transaction costs, in Maven Research, Inc., a global knowledge marketplace, on July 2, 2012.

We closed on an investment of $500,000, plus transaction costs, in NestGSV Silicon Valley, LLC, an entrepreneurial education company, on July 10, 2012.

We closed on an investment of $1,202,500, plus transaction costs, in Twitter, Inc., a social communication company, on July 10, 2012.

We closed on an investment of $10,000,000, plus transaction costs, in 2U, Inc. (f/k/a 2tor, Inc.), an online education company, on July 16, 2012.

We closed on an investment of $5,000,000, plus transaction costs, in Totus Solutions, Inc., an LED lighting company, on July 20, 2012.

We closed on investments of $999,999, $15,228,070 and $135,000, plus transaction costs, in Palantir Technologies, Inc., a cyber-security company, on July 24, 2012, July 27, 2012 and July 31, 2012, respectively.

We closed on an investment of $1,001,000, plus transaction costs, in Gilt Groupe, Inc., an eCommerce platform, on July 27, 2012.

We closed on an investment of $400,000, plus transaction costs, in AltEgo, LLC, an avatar technology and games developer, on August 7, 2012.

We closed on an investment of $500,000, plus transaction costs, in SinoLending Ltd, a Chinese P2P lending platform, on August 7, 2012.

We closed on an investment of $3,589,659, plus transaction costs, in Spotify Technology S.A., a music streaming service, on August 7, 2012.

We closed on an investment of $250,000, plus transaction costs in Neuron Fuel, Inc. (d/b/a Tynker), a computer software company, on August 8, 2012.

We closed on an investment of $1,190,000, plus transaction costs, in Control4 Corporation, a smart home automation company, on August 15, 2012.

We closed on an investment of $174,000, plus transaction costs, in Palantir Technologies, Inc., a cyber-security company, on August 24, 2012.

We closed on an investment of $500,000, plus transaction costs, in Strategic Sports Solutions, LLC, a sports analytics company, on August 31, 2012.

We closed on an investment of $1,760,000, plus transaction costs, in Dropbox, Inc., an online storage service, on September 4, 2012.

We closed on an investment of $1,500,000, plus transaction costs, in Whittle Schools, LLC, an affiliate of Avenues World Holdings LLC, on September 6, 2012.

We closed on an investment of $733,493, plus transaction costs, in AlwaysOn, Inc., a social media company, on September 7, 2012.

We closed on an investment of $1,513,750, plus transaction costs, in SugarCRM Inc., a customer relationship management company, on September 12, 2012.

We closed on an investment of $3,000,000, plus transaction costs, in Parchment, Inc., an education data company, on October 1, 2012.

We closed on an investment of $270,000, plus transaction costs, in Palantir Technologies, Inc., a cyber-security company, on October 17, 2012.

We closed on an investment of $735,000, plus transaction costs, in Control4 Corporation, a smart home automation company, on October 19, 2012.

We closed on an investment of $500,000, plus transaction costs, in Ozy Media, Inc., a social media company, on November 2, 2012.

We closed on an investment of $150,000, plus transaction costs, in Top Hat 430, Inc., an internet commerce company, on November 2, 2012.

We closed on an investment of $2,000,000, plus transaction costs, in Starfish Holdings, Inc. (d/b/a YourOffers), a marketing platform, on November 13, 2012.

We closed on an investment of $171,353, plus transaction costs, in SugarCRM Inc., a customer relationship management company, on November 15, 2012.

We closed on an investment of $500,000, plus transaction costs, in S3 Digital Corp. (d/b/a S3i), a sports analytics company, on November 21, 2012.

We closed on an investment of $1,225,000, plus transaction costs, in SugarCRM Inc., a customer relationship management company, on November 27, 2012.

We closed on an investment of $1,500,000, plus transaction costs, in Whittle Schools, LLC, an affiliate of Avenues World Holdings LLC, on December 3, 2012.

We closed on an investment of $1,499,999, plus transaction costs in Grockit Inc., an online test preparation company, on December 19, 2012.

We closed on an investment of $891,062, plus transaction costs, in SugarCRM Inc., a customer relationship management company, on December 28, 2012.

The fair value, as of December 31, 2012, of all of our portfolio investments was $225,397,085. In addition, we held $16,000,000 in two money market funds as of December 31, 2012. We also held $11,318,525 in unrestricted cash on December 31, 2012.

Results of Operations

Comparison of the year ended December 31, 2012 and the period from January 6, 2011 (date of inception) to December 31, 2011.

As January 6, 2011 was our date of inception and April 28, 2011 was the date of our initial public offering, the period from January 6, 2011 to December 31, 2011 is not a directly comparable period to the year ended December 31, 2012.

Investment Income

For the year ended December 31, 2012, we had investment income of $248,077, or $0.02 per share, which consisted of $222,047 of interest income from our portfolio investments and $26,030 of dividend income from our money market investments.

For the period from January 6, 2011 (date of inception) to December 31, 2011, we had investment income of $162,328, or $0.05 per share, which consisted of $158,389 of interest income and $3,939 of dividend income.

The increase in investment income for the year ended December 31, 2012 relative to the period from January 6, 2011 (date of inception) to December 31, 2011, was primarily due to us holding more fixed income investments during the year ended December 31, 2012.

Operating Expenses

For the year ended December 31, 2012, we had $8,530,958 in total operating expenses consisting primarily of investment management fees and administration fees, in addition to legal, audit and consulting fees. The investment advisory fee for the year ended December 31, 2012, was $4,419,345, representing the base management fee as provided in our investment advisory agreement. Our base management fee was significantly higher than during the period from January 6, 2011 (date of inception) to December 31, 2011 as a result of the increase in our gross assets. Costs incurred under our administration agreement for the year ended December 31, 2012, were $2,384,764. Professional fees, consisting of legal, valuation, audit and consulting fees, were approximately $959,604 for the year ended December 31, 2012.

For the period from January 6, 2011 (date of inception) to December 31, 2011, we had $2,196,192 in total operating expenses consisting primarily of legal, audit and consulting fees, in addition to organizational expenses, investment management fees and administration fees. The investment advisory fee for the period from January 6, 2011 (date of inception) to December 31, 2011, was $618,865, representing the base fee as provided for in our investment advisory agreement. Costs incurred under our administration agreement for the period from January 6, 2011 (date of inception) to December 31, 2011, were $554,232. Professional fees, consisting of legal, valuation, audit, and consulting fees, were approximately $409,983 for the period from January 6, 2011 (date of inception) to December 31, 2011.

The increase in our total operating expenses for the year ended December 31, 2012 as compared to the period from January 6, 2011 (date of inception) to December 31, 2011 is primarily a result of increased investment management fees and administration fees due to the growth of our portfolio.

Net Decrease in Net Assets

For the year ended December 31, 2012, we had a net change in unrealized depreciation of $10,170,850, or $0.63 per share. The change in unrealized depreciation is primarily a result of our investments in Top Hat 430, Inc., Silver Spring Networks, Inc., Gilt Groupe, Inc., Zynga, Inc., and Facebook, Inc. We had a net realized loss of $1,380,519, or $0.09 per share, resulting primarily from our investment in PJB Fund LLC, which resulted from fluctuating share prices of Zynga, Inc. Net investment loss was $8,282,881, or $0.51 per share, for the year ended December 31, 2012, resulting primarily from operating expenses incurred during the year. Net decrease in net assets resulting from operations was $19,834,250, or $1.23 per share, for the year ended December 31, 2012.

For the period from January 6, 2011 (date of inception) to December 31, 2011, we had a net change in unrealized depreciation of $1,579,800, or $0.47 per share. Net investment loss was $2,033,864, or $0.60 per share, for the period from January 6, 2011 (date of inception) to December 31, 2011, resulting primarily from operating expenses incurred during the period. Net decrease in net assets resulting from operations was $3,613,664, or $1.07 per share, for the period from January 6, 2011 (date of inception) to December 31, 2011.

The per share figures noted above are based on a weighted-average of 16,096,330 and 3,377,429 shares outstanding for the year ended December 31, 2012 and for the period from January 6, 2011 (date of inception) to December 31, 2011, respectively.

Liquidity and Capital Resources

At December 31, 2012, we had investments in 47 portfolio companies with costs totaling $237,147,735, two money market funds totaling $16,000,000 and cash in the amount of $11,318,525.

On February 10, 2012, we priced a follow-on equity offering of 6,900,000 shares of our common stock at an offering price of $15.00 per share. The follow-on equity offering included the full exercise of the underwriters’ option to purchase an additional 900,000 shares of our common stock, resulting in net proceeds to GSV Capital Corp. of approximately $96.2 million. On May 11, 2012, we priced a subsequent follow-on equity offering of 6,900,000 shares of our common stock at an offering price of $16.25 per share. The follow-on equity offering included the full exercise of the underwriters’ option to purchase an additional 900,000 share of our common stock, resulting in net proceeds to GSV Capital Corp. of approximately $105.4 million. Our shares are currently listed on the NASDAQ Capital Market under the symbol ‘‘GSVC’’.

Our primary use of cash is to make investments and to pay our operating expenses. We used substantially all of the proceeds of the offerings to invest in portfolio companies as of December 31, 2012, except for amounts retained for purposes of funding our ongoing expenses. For the year ended December 31, 2012, cash used in operating activities, consisting primarily of investment activity, was approximately $190.0 million.

Our current policy is to maintain cash reserves in an amount sufficient to pay our operating expenses, including investment management fees and costs incurred under the administration agreement, for approximately two years. For a description of the investment advisory and administration services we receive, see ‘‘Related Party Transactions and Certain Relationships’’. We incurred approximately $4,419,345 in investment management fees and $2,384,764 in costs incurred under the administration agreement for the year ended December 31, 2012.

As of December 31, 2012, the fair value of our portfolio investments was $225.4 million. Fair value adjustments may include subsequent financing rounds, discounts due to lack of marketability, senior management changes or any other developments that factor into our valuations. The fair value of our investments can be expected to fluctuate in future periods due to changes in our investments and changes in the fair value of the investments.

Off-Balance Sheet Arrangements

As of December 31, 2012, we had no off-balance sheet arrangements, including any risk management of commodity pricing or other hedging practices. However, we may employ hedging and other risk management techniques in the future.

Distribution Policy

The timing and amount of our dividends, if any, will be determined by our board of directors. Any dividends to our stockholders will be declared out of assets legally available for distribution. We intend to focus on making capital gains-based investments from which we will derive primarily capital gains. As a consequence, we do not anticipate that we will pay dividends on a quarterly basis or become a predictable distributor of dividends, and we expect that our dividends, if any, will be much less consistent than the dividends of other business development companies that primarily make debt investments. However, if there are earnings or realized capital gains to be distributed, we intend to declare and pay a dividend at least annually.

We are currently taxable as a C corporation and subject to federal and state corporation income taxes; however, we intend to elect to be treated, and intend to qualify annually thereafter, as a RIC under Subchapter M of the Code, beginning with our 2013 taxable year. To obtain and maintain RIC tax treatment, we must, among other things, distribute at least 90% of our ordinary income and realized net short-term capital gains in excess of realized net long-term capital losses, if any, for each taxable year. In addition, in order to avoid certain excise taxes imposed on RICs, we currently intend to distribute during each calendar year an amount at least equal to the sum of (1) 98% of our ordinary income for the calendar year, (2) 98.2% of our capital gains in excess of capital losses for the one-year period ending on October 31 of the calendar year and (3) any ordinary income and net capital gains for preceding years that were not distributed during such years. Although we currently intend to distribute realized net capital gains (i.e., net long-term capital gains in excess of net short-term capital losses), if any, at least annually, we may in the future decide to retain such capital gains for investment but designate the retained net capital gain as a “deemed distribution”. If this happens, you will be treated as if you received an actual distribution of the capital gains we retain and reinvested the net after-tax proceeds in us. You also may be eligible to claim a tax credit (or, in certain circumstances, a tax refund) equal to your allocable share of the tax we paid on the capital gains deemed distributed to you. See ‘‘Material U.S. Federal Income Tax Considerations.’’ There is no assurance that we will achieve results that will permit the payment of any cash distributions and, to the extent that we issue senior securities, we will be prohibited from making distributions if doing so causes us to fail to maintain the asset coverage ratios stipulated by the 1940 Act or if distributions are limited by the terms of any of our borrowings.

Our current intention is to make any distributions out of assets legally available therefrom in additional shares of our common stock under our dividend reinvestment plan, unless you elect to receive your dividends and/or long-term capital gains distributions in cash. Under the dividend reinvestment plan, if a stockholder owns shares of common stock registered in its own name, the stockholder will have all cash distributions (net of any withholding) automatically reinvested in additional shares of common stock unless the stockholder opts out of our dividend reinvestment plan by delivering a written notice to our dividend paying agent prior to the record date of the next dividend or distribution. See ‘‘Dividend Reinvestment Plan.’’ Any distributions reinvested under the plan will nevertheless remain taxable to the U.S. stockholder, although no cash distribution has been made. As a result, if you do not elect to opt out of the dividend reinvestment plan, you will be required to pay applicable federal, state and local taxes on any reinvested dividends even though you will not receive a corresponding cash distribution. In addition, reinvested dividends have the effect of increasing our gross assets, which may correspondingly increase the management fee payable to our investment adviser. If you hold shares in the name of a broker or financial intermediary, you should contact the broker or financial intermediary regarding your election to receive distributions in cash.

Borrowings

We had no borrowings outstanding as of December 31, 2012.

Related Party Transactions

We entered into an investment advisory agreement with GSV Asset Management (the ‘‘Advisory Agreement’’) in connection with our initial public offering. Pursuant to the Advisory Agreement, GSV Asset Management will be paid a base annual fee of 2.00% of gross assets, and an annual incentive fee equal to the lesser of (i) 20% of GSV Capital’s realized capital gains during each calendar year, if any, calculated on an investment-by-investment basis, subject to a non-compounded preferred return, or ‘‘hurdle,’’ and a ‘‘catch-up’’ feature, and (ii) 20% of GSV Capital’s realized capital gains, if any, on a cumulative basis from inception through the end of each calendar year, computed net of all realized capital losses and unrealized capital depreciation on a cumulative basis, less the aggregate amount of any previously paid incentive fees. GSV Asset Management earned $4,419,345 and $618,865 in base fees and $0 in incentive fees for the year ended December 31, 2012 and for the period from January 6, 2011 (date of inception) to December 31, 2011, respectively.

As of December 31, 2012, we were owed $5,723 from GSV Asset Management for reimbursement of expenses paid for by us that were the responsibility of GSV Asset Management.

In addition as of December 31, 2012, we owed GSV Asset Management $51,194 for management fees and reimbursement of other expenses.

We entered into an Administration Agreement with GSV Capital Service Company (the ‘‘Administration Agreement’’) to provide administrative services, including furnishing us with office facilities, equipment, clerical, bookkeeping services and other administrative services, in connection with our initial public offering. We reimburse GSV Capital Service Company an allocable portion of overhead and other expenses in performing its obligations under the Administration Agreement. There were $2,384,764 and $554,232 in such costs incurred under the Administration Agreement for the year ended December 31, 2012 and for the period from January 6, 2011 (date of inception) to December 31, 2011, respectively.

We also adopted a Code of Ethics which applies to, among others, our senior officers, including our Chief Executive Officer and Chief Financial Officer, as well as all of our officers, directors and employees. Our Code of Ethics requires that all employees and directors avoid any conflict, or the appearance of a conflict, between an individual’s personal interests and our interests. Pursuant to our Code of Ethics, each employee and director must disclose any conflicts of interest, or actions or relationships that might give rise to a conflict, to our Chief Compliance Officer. Our board of directors is charged with approving any waivers under our Code of Ethics. As required by the NASDAQ corporate governance listing standards, the Audit Committee of our board of directors is also required to review and approve any transactions with related parties (as such term is defined in Item 404 of Regulation S-K).

In February 2013, Mark Moe, who is the brother of our Chief Executive Officer, Michael Moe, joined NestGSV, Inc. as a Vice President of Business Development, Global Expansion.

Critical Accounting Policies

Basis of Presentation

The financial statements included herein are expressed in United States dollars and have been prepared in conformity with accounting principles generally accepted in the United States of America (‘‘GAAP’’).

In accordance with Regulation S-X under the Securities Act of 1933 and Securities Exchange Act of 1934, the Company does not consolidate portfolio company investments.

Valuation of Investments at Fair Value

We carry our investments at fair value, as determined in good faith by our board of directors, in accordance with GAAP. Fair value is the price that one would receive upon selling an investment or pay to transfer a liability in an orderly transaction between market participants at the measurement date in the principal or most advantageous market for the investment or liability. GAAP emphasizes that valuation techniques should maximize the use of observable market inputs and minimize the use of unobservable inputs. Observable inputs are based on market data obtained from sources independent of the entity and should not be limited to information that is only available to the entity making the fair value determination, or to a small group of users. Observable market inputs should be readily available to participants in that market. In addition, observable market inputs should include a level of transparency that is reliable and verifiable.

GAAP fair value measurement guidance classifies the inputs used to measure these fair values into the following hierarchy:

Level 1. Financial assets and liabilities whose values are based on unadjusted quoted prices for identical assets or liabilities in an active market that we have the ability to access.

Level 2. Financial assets and liabilities whose values are based on quoted prices in markets that are not active or model inputs that are observable either directly or indirectly for substantially the full term of the asset or liability. Level 2 inputs include the following:

Level 3. Financial assets and liabilities whose values are based on prices or valuation techniques that require inputs that are both unobservable and significant to the overall fair value measurement. These inputs reflect management’s own assumptions about the assumptions a market participant would use in pricing the asset or liability.

An asset’s categorization within the valuation hierarchy is based upon the lowest level of input that is significant to the fair value measurement.

Securities that are publicly traded are generally valued at the close price on the valuation date; however, if they remain subject to lock-up restrictions they are discounted accordingly. Securities that are not publicly traded or for which there are no readily available market quotations are valued at fair value as determined in good faith by our board of directors.

In connection with that determination, portfolio company valuations are prepared using the most currently available data. As appropriate, we obtain updates on each portfolio company’s financial performance, including information such as economic and industry trends, new product development, and other operational issues.

In making our good faith determination of the fair value of investments, we consider valuation methodologies consistent with industry practice, including but not limited to (i) publicly available information regarding the valuation of the securities based on recent sales in comparable transactions of private companies, (ii) when management believes there are comparable companies that are publicly traded, a review of these publicly traded companies and applicable market multiples of their equity securities and, (iii) an income approach that estimates value based on the expectation of future cash flows that an asset or business will generate.

We engage independent valuation firms to perform valuations of our investments that are not publicly traded or for which there are no readily available market quotations. We also engage independent valuation firms to perform valuations of any securities that trade on private secondary markets, but are not otherwise publicly traded, where there is a lack of appreciable trading or a wide disparity in recently reported trades. We consider the independent valuations, among other factors, in making our fair value determinations.

Recently Adopted Accounting Standards

In May 2011, the Financial Accounting Standards Board (‘‘FASB’’) issued guidance clarifying how to measure and disclose fair value. This guidance amends the application of the ‘‘highest and best use’’ concept to be used only in the measurement of fair value of nonfinancial assets, clarifies that the measurement of the fair value of equity-classified financial instruments should be performed from the perspective of a market participant who holds the instrument as an asset, clarifies that an entity that manages a group of financial assets and liabilities on the basis of its net risk exposure can measure those financial instruments on the basis of its net exposure to those risks, and clarifies when premiums and discounts should be taken into account when measuring fair value. The fair value disclosure requirements also were amended. This accounting standard is effective prospectively for interim and annual reporting periods beginning after December 15, 2011. The adoption of this accounting standard did not have a significant impact on our financial statements.

Recent Developments

On January 17, 2013 and January 18, 2013, the Company sold its investment in Groupon, Inc. for $209,590 and $207,712, respectively.

On January 28, 2013, January 29, 2013, January 31, 2013, and February 1, 2013, the Company sold its investment in Zynga, Inc. for $120,654, $121,443, $121,962, and $1,003,983, respectively.

On March 8, 2013, the Board reapproved the Advisory Agreement and the Administration Agreement. These agreements will remain in effect for a period of one year from the date they were approved.

Subsequent to December 31, 2012, the Company closed on investments of $2.4 million, plus transaction costs as follows:

The Company closed on an investment of $1,499,999, plus transaction costs, in SugarCRM Inc., a customer relationship management company, on January 16, 2013.

The Company closed on an investment of $200,000, plus transaction costs, in AlwaysOn, Inc., a social media company, on February 4, 2013.

The Company closed on an investment of $517,244, plus transaction costs, in CUX, Inc. (d/b/a CorpU), a corporate education company, on February 25, 2013.

The Company closed on an investment of $200,000, plus transaction costs, in AlwaysOn, Inc., a social media company, on February 28, 2013.

The Company is presently in the final stages of negotiations with respect to a handful of private company investments that it anticipates entering into within the next 30 to 60 days, subject to satisfaction of applicable closing conditions. In the case of secondary market transactions, such closing conditions may include approval of the issuer, waiver or failure to exercise rights of first refusal by the issuer and/or its stockholders and termination rights by the seller or the Company. Equity investments made through the secondary market may involve making deposits in escrow accounts until the applicable closing conditions are satisfied, at which time the escrow accounts will close and such equity investments will be effectuated. Subsequent to December 31, 2012, the Company has not made any such escrow deposits.

We are subject to financial market risks, which could include, to the extent we utilize leverage, changes in interest rates. As we invest primarily in equity rather than debt instruments, we would not expect fluctuations in interest rates to directly impact our return on our portfolio investments, although any significant change in market interest rates could potentially have an indirect effect on the business, financial condition and results of operations of the portfolio companies in which we invest.

MANAGEMENT’S REPORT ON INTERNAL CONTROL OVER FINANCIAL REPORTING

Management is responsible for establishing and maintaining adequate internal control over financial reporting, and for performing an assessment of the effectiveness of internal control over financial reporting as of December 31, 2012. Internal control over financial reporting is a process designed to provide reasonable assurance regarding the reliability of financial reporting and the preparation of consolidated financial statements for external purposes in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles. The Company’s internal control over financial reporting includes those policies and procedures that (i) pertain to assets of the Company; (ii) provide reasonable assurance that transactions are recorded as necessary to permit preparation of consolidated financial statements in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles, and that receipts and expenditures of the Company are being made only in accordance with authorizations of management and directors of the Company; and (iii) provide reasonable assurance regarding prevention or timely detection of unauthorized acquisition, use, or disposition of the Company’s assets that could have a material effect on the consolidated financial statements.

Management performed an assessment of the effectiveness of the Company’s internal control over financial reporting as of December 31, 2012 based upon criteria in Internal Control — Integrated Framework issued by the Committee of Sponsoring Organizations of the Treadway Commission (“COSO”). Based on our assessment, management determined that the Company’s internal control over financial reporting was effective as of December 31, 2012 based on the criteria on Internal Control — Integrated Framework issued by COSO.

The effectiveness of the Company’s internal control over financial reporting as of December 31, 2012 has been audited by Grant Thornton LLP, an independent registered public accounting firm, as stated in their report which appears herein.

Index to Financial Statements

REPORT OF INDEPENDENT REGISTERED PUBLIC ACCOUNTING FIRM

Board of Directors and Stockholders 

GSV Capital Corp.

We have audited the accompanying consolidated statements of assets and liabilities of GSV Capital Corp. (formerly NeXt Innovation Corp.) and subsidiary (the “Company”), including the consolidated schedules of investments, as of December 31, 2012 and 2011, and the related consolidated statements of operations, changes in net assets, and cash flows for the year ended December 31, 2012 and for the period from January 6, 2011 (date of inception) to December 31, 2011. These financial statements are the responsibility of the Company’s management. Our responsibility is to express an opinion on these financial statements based on our audits.

We conducted our audits in accordance with the standards of the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board (United States). Those standards require that we plan and perform the audit to obtain reasonable assurance about whether the financial statements are free of material misstatement. An audit includes examining, on a test basis, evidence supporting the amounts and disclosures in the financial statements. An audit also includes assessing the accounting principles used and significant estimates made by management, as well as evaluating the overall financial statement presentation. Our procedures included confirmation of the investments owned as of December 31, 2012 and 2011 by correspondence with the custodian and broker. We believe that our audits provide a reasonable basis for our opinion.

In our opinion, the consolidated financial statements referred to above present fairly, in all material respects, the financial position of GSV Capital Corp. and subsidiary as of December 31, 2012 and 2011, and the results of their operations and their cash flows for the year ended December 31, 2012 and for the period from January 6, 2011 (date of inception) to December 31, 2011, in conformity with accounting principles generally accepted in the United States of America.

We also have audited, in accordance with the standards of the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board (United States), the Company’s internal control over financial reporting as of December 31, 2012, based on criteria established in Internal Control—Integrated Framework issued by the Committee of Sponsoring Organizations of the Treadway Commission (COSO), and our report dated March 13, 2013 expressed an unqualified opinion thereon.

/s/ GRANT THORNTON LLP

San Jose, California

March 13, 2013

GSV CAPITAL CORP. AND SUBSIDIARY

(formerly NeXt Innovation Corp.)

CONSOLIDATED STATEMENTS OF ASSETS AND LIABILITIES

See Notes to the Consolidated Financial Statements.

GSV CAPITAL CORP. AND SUBSIDIARY

(formerly NeXt Innovation Corp.)

CONSOLIDATED STATEMENTS OF OPERATIONS

⁽¹⁾ Weighted average common shares for the period from January 6, 2011 (date of inception) to December 31, 2011 was calculated from the issuance of 100 shares on February 28, 2011.

See Notes to the Consolidated Financial Statements.

GSV CAPITAL CORP. AND SUBSIDIARY

(formerly NeXt Innovation Corp.)

CONSOLIDATED STATEMENTS OF CHANGES IN NET ASSETS

See Notes to the Consolidated Financial Statements.

GSV CAPITAL CORP. AND SUBSIDIARY

(formerly NeXt Innovation Corp.)

CONSOLIDATED STATEMENTS OF CASH FLOWS

See Notes to the Consolidated Financial Statements.

GSV CAPITAL CORP. AND SUBSIDIARY

(formerly NeXt Innovation Corp.)

CONSOLIDATED SCHEDULE OF INVESTMENTS

December 31, 2012

See Notes to the Consolidated Financial Statements.

GSV CAPITAL CORP. AND SUBSIDIARY

(formerly NeXt Innovation Corp.)

CONSOLIDATED SCHEDULE OF INVESTMENTS (continued)

December 31, 2012

See Notes to the Consolidated Financial Statements.

GSV CAPITAL CORP. AND SUBSIDIARY

(formerly NeXt Innovation Corp.)

CONSOLIDATED SCHEDULE OF INVESTMENTS (continued)

December 31, 2012