Why was the Jamestown Colony established?

The Jamestown colony was established as a money-making venture. For many years, Europeans had been dazzled by tales of the phenomenal wealth that awaited them on the other side of the Atlantic. In popular myth, America was portrayed as the land of milk and honey—a land rich in raw materials and mineral wealth—where acres and acres of land were there for the taking. If you wanted to make your fortune at that time—and many did—then America was the place to do it.
A group of English businessmen formed themselves into the Virginia Company with the express purpose of taking advantage of what they believed were the huge money-making opportunities the New World offered. Though the Virginia Company needed the blessing of King James I before it could establish any colonies, it was solely responsible for raising the necessary investment for what was a fairly risky venture. The founding of Jamestown was therefore a private sector initiative, unlike Spanish colonial settlements, which were funded and established by the government.