the.com/seed money

means The initial capital that funds a new venture before it has proven itself, allowing it to start operating and grow.

from A straightforward 20th-century metaphor from agriculture: just as a farmer sets aside a portion of grain not to eat but to plant, so early investors set aside cash not to spend but to plant in a fledgling business. The phrase took root in American business speech as venture financing itself became a named practice, with 'seed' later splitting into a whole vocabulary — seed round, seed investor, pre-seed — tracking the plant from germination onward.