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The patterns of venture capital investment in Europe

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  • Fabio Bertoni
  • Massimo Colombo
  • Anita Quas

Abstract

We study the investment patterns of different types of venture capital (VC) investors in Europe: independent VC, corporate VC, bank-affiliated VC and governmental VC. We rely on a unique dataset that covers 1663 first VC investments made by 846 investors in 737 young high-tech entrepreneurial ventures in seven European countries. We compare the relative specialization indices of the different VC investor types across several dimensions that characterize investee companies: industry, age, size, stage of development, distance from the investor and country. Our findings indicate that VC investor types in Europe differ substantially in their investment patterns when compared to one another and that, in terms of investment patterns, governmental VC investors appear to be the most distinct type of VC investor. The investment patterns of different VC investors are stable over time and similar across different European countries. Finally, the investment patterns of the different VC investor types in Europe are significantly different from those observed in the USA. Copyright Springer Science+Business Media New York 2015

Suggested Citation

  • Fabio Bertoni & Massimo Colombo & Anita Quas, 2015. "The patterns of venture capital investment in Europe," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 45(3), pages 543-560, October.
    • Handle: RePEc:kap:sbusec:v:45:y:2015:i:3:p:543-560
    DOI: 10.1007/s11187-015-9662-0
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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Venture capital; Europe; Relative specialization index; Young high-tech companies; G24; G32; L26;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • G24 - Financial Economics - - Financial Institutions and Services - - - Investment Banking; Venture Capital; Brokerage
    • G32 - Financial Economics - - Corporate Finance and Governance - - - Financing Policy; Financial Risk and Risk Management; Capital and Ownership Structure; Value of Firms; Goodwill
    • L26 - Industrial Organization - - Firm Objectives, Organization, and Behavior - - - Entrepreneurship

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