Private Sub Command1_Click()
Dim str As String, i As Integer, x As Integer
str = "<testing<1234<<5678><abc123<"

For i = 1 To Len(str)
If Mid(str, i, 1) = "<" Then
    x = x + 1
End If
Next
MsgBox "the number of occurences of < in the string is :" & x
End Sub

Function CountChar(strChar As String, strInput As String) as long
Dim lngPos As Long
Dim lngCount As Long
Dim lngLast As Long

lngLast = 1
lngPos = -1
While lngPos <> 0
    lngPos = InStr(lngLast, strInput, strChar)
    If lngPos Then
        lngCount = lngCount + 1
        lngLast = lngPos + 1
    End If
Wend
CountChar = lngCount
End Function