A startup company is a company with a limited operating history. It may effectively cease to be a startup as it passes various milestones, such as becoming profitable, or becoming publically traded in an IPO, or ceasing to exist as an independent entity via a merger or acquisition. Most startups fail.

Já na Wikipídea eles mantêm o termo Companhia STARTUP.

Startups are distinguished by their risk/reward profile and scalability. Compared to established businesses, startups must have lower bootstrapping costs, higher risk, and higher potential return on investment, since their cost of capital is high. Successful startups are typically more scalable than an established business, in the sense that they can potentially grow rapidly with limited investment of capital,labor or land.

Não necessariamente estabelecidas.

milhões ou 87% do mercado, deixando apenas R$ 37 milhões para empresas em estágio inicial. (“start-up”). Em contraste, durante o primeiro semestre de 2003, ...
www.capitalderisco.gov.br/vcn/abcr/pesquisa_03.pdf

START UP - São empresas em fase embrionária que se encontram no processo de ... ups que conseguem obter caixa ou lucros nesse estágio de desenvolvimento, ...
www.capitalderisco.gov.br/vcn/s_CR.asp

Empreendedorismo de start-up – procura trabalhar com potenciais empreendedores e empresas inovadoras em estágio inicial de desenvolvimento, ...
www.microsoft.com/brasil/msdn/Tecnologias/Carreira/Empreend...

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Note added at 2 hrs (2007-01-29 18:28:14 GMT)
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