A startup company or startup or start-up is an entrepreneurial venture or a new business in the form of a company, a partnership or temporary organization designed to search for a repeatable and scalable business model. These companies, generally newly created, are innovative in a process of development, validation and research for target markets. The term became internationally widespread during the dot-com bubble when a great number of dot-com companies were founded. Because of this history, startups are often assumed to be solely technology-based companies, but this is not necessarily true: the essence of startups is generally related to the concepts of ambition, innovation, scalability, and growth.