A capital call (also called a drawdown) is the mechanism by which a private equity or venture capital fund actually receives its committed capital. When a fund commits to a new investment or needs to pay management fees and expenses, the general partner issues a capital call notice to all limited partners, requesting that they send their proportionate share of the required amount within a short window — typically five to fifteen business days.
LPs do not transfer all their committed capital at once; instead, capital is called progressively over the investment period (usually three to five years) as deals are executed. This structure allows LPs to deploy capital more efficiently, earning returns on uncalled capital elsewhere in the interim.