From Longman Dictionary of Contemporary Englishgrubstakegrub‧stake /ˈɡrʌbˌsteɪk/ noun [uncountable] American English informalBF an amount of money that is provided to develop a new business in return for a share of the profits
Examples from the Corpus
grubstake• I got me a grubstake, I might get lucky.From Longman Business Dictionarygrubstakegrub‧stake /ˈgrʌbˌsteɪk/ noun [uncountable] American English informalFINANCE money provided to develop a new business in return for a share of the profitsOrigin grubstake (1800-1900) → GRUB1 “food” + → STAKE1 “money risked” 