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Title: Venture capital and biotech companies Seminar date: 30 May 2024 Course: FEKH99, Degree Project Undergraduate level, Business Administration, Undergraduate level, 15 University Credits Points (UPC) or ECTS‐cr) Authors: Linus Hansen, Felix Henderup and Tindra Honnér Advisor/s: Joakim Winborg Key words: Venture capital, Biotechnology, Startups, Impact, Development, Research question: What are the driving forces and criteria for newly started biotechnology companies when they raise venture capital? Purpose: To investigate why biotechnology startups choose to raise venture capital, the criteria they base their choice of venture capital on, and to examine the IVFBs that come with venture capital. Methodology: A qualitative study with a research design of cross-sectional and comparative design, using opportunity and snowball sampling for participant selection. Theoretical perspectives: The theoretical framework consists of driving forces, venture capital selection, and VC value add. Result: Several driving forces for raising venture capital could be identified, with growth, product development and time reduction being the most common. Among the criteria, specialization in the field was identified as the most important in venture capital selection. Finally, operational assistance was identified as the most common VC value add. Conclusions: The study concludes that the driving factors follow a clear trend in all companies, where venture capital is considered essential for their development. The key criteria in venture capital selection include a shared vision with venture capital investors and expertise in the field of application. Finally, it is noted that VC value add should be given greater consideration in decisions regarding venture capital selection.

Studien undersöker om det finns skillnader i innovationsgraden hos svenska techbolag finansierade av koncernägt venture capital (CVC) respektive privat venture capital (IVC). Detta undersöks genom en regression av kvantitativ paneldata med ett urval på 392 bolag och 4 432 datapunkter. Datan är insamlad från Refinitiv Eikon, Retriever Business och PAtLink. Resultatet visar att koncernägt venture capital investerar i mer innovativa bolag än privat venture capital. Det framgår även att det snarare är storleken på investeringen än vilken typ av finansieringsform, CVC eller IVC, som har en positiv påverkan på ett portföljbolags innovation. Utöver detta visar studien att företags lönsamhet och storlek har påverkan på graden innovation i ett portföljbolag. Slutligen konstateras det att det inte finns någon skillnad i hur CVC respektive IVC främjar innovation i portföljbolag inom den svenska techbranschen.

La puesta en marcha de una empresa necesita de apoyo financiero externo hasta que el negocio sea sostenible. En el caso de nuevo emprendimiento, acudir a fuentes tradicionales de financiación, como los bancos, puede ser infructuoso. Así en fases tempranas del negocio los ingresos generados, los activos y el modelo de negocio no son suficiente para cubrir las necesidades operativas de fondos. Ante esta dificultad para conseguir fondos, surgen nuevos mecanismos financieros que posibilitan la liquidez necesaria en momentos de restricción, convirtiéndose en modelos financieros innovadores. Este artículo tiene como objetivo realizar un análisis bibliométrico sobre las fuentes alternativas de financiación del emprendimiento a partir de los documentos publicados en la base de datos Web of Science hasta el año 2022., Starting up a company requires external financial support until the business is sustainable. In the case of new ventures, turning to traditional sources of financing, such as banks, can be unsuccessful. Therefore, in the early stages of the business, the revenues generated, the assets and the business model are not enough to cover the operational funding needs. Faced with this difficulty in obtaining funds, new financial mechanisms emerge that make possible the necessary liquidity in times of restriction, becoming innovative financial models. This article aims to perform a bibliometric analysis of alternative sources of financing for entrepreneurship based on papers published in the Web of Science database until the year 2022.

In recent years the investment landscape has changed drastically as sustainable investing and Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) criteria have become increasingly important. This is important within all financial sectors, especially in the venture capital (VC) and private equity (PE) landscape. Even though there is anongoing global push towards focusing on ESG within this area, there is a clear gap in the literature. This study aims to address this gap and understand how Swedish VC and PE firms integrate sustainability aspects into their investment strategies, as well as the drivers and challenges of this integration. The research question is defined as How do Swedish venture capital firms integrate ESG considerations into their investment strategies and what drives and challenges this integration? The sub-research questionsare defined as How are the various ESG factors quantified and communicated in reporting processes? and In what ways do the methodologies of ESG integration vary between conventional VC firms and those specializing in impact investments within the venture capital landscape? Initially, a literature review was conducted, followed by a qualitative study in the form of semi-structured interviews. A total of 8 interviews were held with various Nordic VC and PE firms. The interviews were recorded, transcribed, and subsequently coded to develop thematic categories. The results show that all VC firms integrate ESG into their investment strategies due to internal demands, financial incentives, and external pressures, encountering challenges like obtaining reliable data and balancing integration with financial performance. Methodologies differ between conventional VC firms, which prioritize risk mitigation and financial incentives, and Impact VCs, which fully integrate ESG factors to create positive social and environmental impacts. During the discussion, a recommendation of a new tiered framework is presented, which would simplify ESG reporting an, Under de senaste åren har investeringslandskapet förändrats drastiskt eftersom hållbara investeringar och ESG har blivit allt viktigare. Detta är viktigt inom alla finansiella sektorer och särskilt inom venture capital (VC) och private equity (PE) landskapet. Trots en global strävan att fokusera på ESG inom detta område finns det ett tydligt glapp i litteraturen. Denna studie syftar till att adressera denna lucka och förstå hur svenska VC- och PE-företag integrerar hållbarhetsaspekter i sina investeringsstrategier samt vilka drivkrafter och utmaningar som finns med denna integration. Forskningsfrågan definieras som Hur integrerar svenska VC-bolag ESG I sina investeringsstrategier och vad driver och utmanar denna integration? De underliggande forskningsfrågorna definieras som Hur kvantifieras och kommuniceras olika ESG-faktorer i rapporteringsprocesser? och På vilka sätt varierar metoderna för ESG-integration mellan traditionella VC-företag och de som specialiserar sig på investeringar med ESG-inverkan inom venture capital-landskapet? Inledningsvis genomfördes en litteraturstudie, följd av en kvalitativ studie i form av semistrukturerade intervjuer. Totalt hölls 8 intervjuer med olika nordiska VC- och PE-företag. Intervjuerna spelades in, transkriberades och kodades därefter för att utveckla tematiska kategorier. Resultaten visar att alla VC-företag integrerar ESG i sina investeringsstrategier på grund av interna krav, finansiella incitament och externa påtryckningar och möter utmaningar som att erhålla tillförlitlig data och balansera integrationen med finansiella mål. Metoderna skiljer sig mellan konventionella VC-företag, som prioriterar riskminimering och finansiella incitament, och Impact VCs, som fullt ut integrerar ESG faktorer för att skapa positiva sociala och miljömässiga effekter. I diskussionsdelen föreslås en rekommendation av ett nytt stegvis ramverk, vilket skulle förenkla ESG rapportering och underlätta processen för investerare att jämföra nystartade

Denna studie undersöker entreprenöriella egenskaper och deras roll i investeringsbeslut. Processen från idé till förverkligande är utmanande och kräver tid, kompetens och framför allt kapital. Studien syftar till att identifiera och formulera vilka egenskaper som är mest betydelsefulla för riskkapitalister och vad som bedöms när en entreprenör söker investering. På så vis belyses hur entreprenörer agerar vid investeringstillfällen och deras syn på vad riskkapitalister värderar. Syftet med studien är att skapa en övergripande förståelse för de egenskaper hos entreprenörer, särskilt inom svenska startups, som påverkar riskkapitalisters investeringsbeslut. För att uppnå detta syfte inkluderar studien även att identifiera relevanta verktyg och ramverk som kan underlätta förståelsen och identifieringen av dessa egenskaper hos entreprenörer. Detta genomförs med hjälp av en kvalitativ studie baserat på intervjuer från riskkapitalister och entreprenörer. Genom att formulera en kravlista med de mest relevanta egenskaperna och deras betydelse ämnar studien att bidra till en ökad förståelse av detta dynamiska samspel. En viktig insikt från studien är att trots att det finns flera kriterier att beakta vid investeringstillfällen, är entreprenören den avgörande faktorn. Därför är egenskaper såsom förmågan att sälja, självförtroende och uthållighet, bland andra, avgörande för att säkra finansiering och lyckas med företaget. En ytterligare insikt från denna studie är att verktyg såsom due diligence och ramverk som The Big Five kan underlätta för både riskkapitalister och entreprenörer att bedöma vilka egenskaper som är mest avgörande beroende på omständigheterna., This study investigates entrepreneurial traits and their role in investment decisions. The process from idea to realization is challenging and requires time, competence, and, above all, capital. The study aims to identify and formulate the traits that are most significant for venture capitalists and what is assessed when an entrepreneur seeks investment. In this way, the study highlights how entrepreneurs act during investment opportunities and their perspective on what venture capitalists value. The purpose of the study is to create a comprehensive understanding of the traits in entrepreneurs, particularly within Swedish startups, that influence venture capitalists' investment decisions. To achieve this purpose, the study also includes identifying relevant tools and frameworks that can facilitate the understanding and identification of these traits in entrepreneurs. This is accomplished through a qualitative study based on interviews with venture capitalists and entrepreneurs. By formulating a checklist of the most relevant traits and their significance, the study aims to contribute to a greater understanding of this dynamic interaction. An important insight from the study is that despite the numerous criteria to consider during investment opportunities, the entrepreneur is the decisive factor. Therefore, traits such as the ability to sell, self-confidence, and perseverance, among others, are crucial for securing financing and succeeding with the business. An additional insight from this study is that tools such as due diligence and frameworks like The Big Five can facilitate both venture capitalists and entrepreneurs in assessing which traits are most crucial depending on the circumstances.

Startups karaktäriseras av sin dynamiska och innovativa natur, och har en central roll i att främja ekonomisk tillväxt och utveckling genom att introducera radikala innovationer. Däremot opererar startups under extrem osäkerhet med begränsade resurser, vilket ställer höga krav på anpassningsbarhet och flexibilitet. På vägen mot framgång står startups inför en rad utmaningar som inkluderar svårigheter att säkra kapital, skapandet av en produkt eller tjänst som accepteras på marknaden och teamrelaterade aspekter. På grund av dessa hinder är frekvensen för misslyckande hög, där entreprenörer tenderar att vara alltför produktorienterade vilket leder till en oförmåga att anpassa affärsmodeller. Syftet i denna studie är att utforska de utmaningar och hinder startups står inför, samt undersöka hur entreprenörer upplever och hanterar denna process. Dessutom integreras riskkapitalister för att få en djupare förståelse för hur startups kan säkra nödvändigt kapital. För att besvara syftet i denna studie användes en kvalitativ forskningsstrategi, där semistrukturerade intervjuer användes som metod för datainsamling. Vidare intervjuades åtta entreprenörer och två riskkapitalister för att få en djupgående förståelse för respondenternas erfarenheter, perspektiv och insikter. Studiens resultat indikerar att kontinuerlig innovation av affärsmodeller kan vara avgörande, varför det kan vara fördelaktigt att balansera produkt- och affärsmodellsutveckling. För att hantera detta kan Lean Startup vara en gynnsam strategi för att iterativt korrigera brister i produkter och affärsmodeller genom balanserad kundfeedback. Studiens resultat visar att riskkapital kan främja tillväxt men även medföra utmaningar för entreprenörer, såsom konflikter, höga avkastningskrav och kontrollförlust. Det kan därför vara fördelaktigt att entreprenörer noggrant utvärderar samarbetet innan partnerskap ingås för att säkerställa gemensam vision och mervärde. Avslutningsvis visar studiens resultat att teamdynamik, Startups are distinguished by their dynamic and innovative nature, playing a pivotal role in fostering economic growth and development through the introduction of radical innovations. However, these enterprises operate under extreme uncertainty and with limited resources, necessitating a high degree of adaptability and flexibility. Throughout their journey towards success, startups encounter numerous challenges, including difficulties in securing capital, developing market-accepted products or services, and managing team-related issues. Due to these obstacles, the failure rate among startups is notably high, often attributed to entrepreneurs' tendency to focus excessively on products at the expense of adapting their business models. The purpose of this study is to investigate the challenges and obstacles faced by startups, as well as to examine how entrepreneurs perceive and navigate these hurdles. Furthermore, the study incorporates insights from venture capitalists to gain a deeper understanding of how startups can secure essential funding. To achieve the study's objectives, a qualitative research strategy was employed, utilizing semi-structured interviews as the primary data collection method. Eight entrepreneurs and two venture capitalists were interviewed to provide a comprehensive understanding of their experiences, perspectives, and insights. The findings of the study suggest that continuous innovation in business models is crucial, highlighting the importance of balancing product development with business model adaptation. The Lean Startup methodology emerges as a beneficial strategy for iteratively addressing flaws in products and business models through balanced customer feedback. Additionally, the study indicates that while venture capital can accelerate growth, it also introduces challenges such as conflicts, high return expectations, and potential loss of control. Therefore, it is advantageous for entrepreneurs to carefully evaluate potential partnershi

Bakgrund: Den stora bristen på investerat kapital som går till kvinnliga entreprenörer är ett hett debatterat ämne idag. I takt med att både riskkapitalbranschen växer sig större samt att allt fler institutionella krav ställs på jämställdhet i samhället så är detta något som riskkapitalbolagen behöver ta hänsyn till. Däremot finns det en stor utmaning i hur könsgapet ska stängas i branschen, varav tidigare studier ger förslag på hur den kvinnliga entreprenören själv ska agera för att öka sina chanser till att resa kapital. Ej lika utforskat inom ämnet är däremot investerarnas perspektiv och hur de bör agera för att bjuda in fler kvinnor till branschen och på så sätt öka sin andel jämställda investeringar. Det är därmed intressant att analysera vilka barriärer och framgångsfaktorer som investerare upplever för att kunna minska könsgapet. Studien ämnar således skapa värdefulla insikter till branschens framtida jämställdhetsarbete inom det investerade kapitalet. Syfte: Att analysera faktorerna bakom den ojämställda fördelningen av det investerade kapitalet samt kartlägga investerares syn på vad som krävs och vilka utmaningar som finns för att överkomma könsgapet i branschen. Metod: Studien har genomförts genom kvalitativa, semistrukturerade intervjuer med tio investerare i riskkapitalbranschen. Frågor har ställts där respondenterna fått beskriva sina egna investeringsbeslut samt sina tankar och sina åsikter och vad de anser krävs för att det ska ske en förändring inom det investerade kapitalet. På så sätt har en helhetsbild av investerares förhållningssätt till jämställda investeringar skapats. Vidare har studien använt en deduktiv ansats samt en tematisk analys för att nå en slutsats. Slutsats: Både kvinnliga investerare och entreprenörer är starkt eftertraktade i riskkapitalbranschen, en trend som korrelerar med den ökande betydelsen av jämställdhetsfrågor inom samhället. Trots, Problem discussion: The great lack of invested capital going to female entrepreneurs is a hotly debated topic today. As both the Venture Capital industry grows larger and as more institutional demands are put on gender equality in society, this is something that Venture Capital companies need to take into account. On the other hand, there is a big challenge in how to close the gender gap in the industry, of which previous studies give suggestions on how the female entrepreneur herself should act to increase her chances of raising capital. Unexplored within the subject is the investors' perspective and how they should act to invite more women to the industry and thus increase their proportion of equal investments. It is therefore interesting to analyze which barriers and success factors investors experience in order to be able to reduce the gender gap. The study intends to create valuable insights for the industry's future gender equality work within the invested capital. Purpose: To analyze the factors behind the unequal distribution of the invested capital and to map investors' view of what is required and what challenges exist to overcome the gender gap in the industry. Methodology: The study has been conducted through qualitative, semi-structured interviews with ten investors within the Venture Capital industry. By posing questions where the respondents have described their own investment decisions, thoughts and opinions as well as what they believe is required for a change within the invested capital, an overall understanding of their approach to gender equality has been established. The study also has a deductive approach along with a thematic analysis to reach a conclusion. Conclusion: Both female investors and entrepreneurs are highly requested in the Venture Capital industry, a trend that correlates with the increasing importance of gender equality issues within society. Despite this, there are challenges when it comes to making more gender-equal investme

Bakgrund: Venture Capital-bolag spelar en stor roll i finansieringen och utvecklingen av nya och innovativa företag. Bolagen verkar i en miljö där investeringarna innebär ett högt risktagande, och därför är det viktigt att de har en strategi för hur de ska investera. Deras investeringsstrategier är komplexa och tidigare studier visar på olika resultat kopplat till faktorerna portföljsammansättning, avkastningskrav, riskhantering och styrning av portföljbolag. Det är därför viktigt att analysera och bidra med ny kunskap för hur Venture Capital-bolagen går tillväga när de investerar, hanterar risk och samtidigt försöker skapa värde i portföljbolagen. Syfte: Syftet med denna uppsats är att analysera VC-bolagens investeringsstrategier utifrån portföljsammansättning, avkastningskrav, risk och styrning i en svensk kontext. Metod: Studien baseras på en deduktiv ansats och använder en kvalitativ metod. Datainsamlingen består av semistrukturerade intervjuer med 15 representanter från Venture Capital-bolag verksamma på den svenska marknaden. Slutsats: VC-bolagen tenderar att specialisera sig på specifika branscher och investeringsstadier, medan antal bolag och geografiskt fokus varierar. Det enskilt vanligaste avkastningskravet är 25 procent, och relativvärdering är den mest förekommande värderingsmetoden. Både interna och externa risker analyseras, och två riskhanteringsmetoder identifieras. VC-bolagen vill vara aktiva ägare, samtidigt som de ser till portföljbolagens behov för grad av involvering. VC-bolagens investeringsbeslut baseras huvudsakligen på deras riskbenägenhet, kompetens och erfarenhet., Background: Venture Capital firms play a significant role in financing and developing new and innovative ventures. These firms operate in an environment where investments involve high risk, making it essential for them to have a well-defined investment strategy. Their investment strategies are complex, and previous studies have shown varying results related to factors such as portfolio composition, return requirements, risk management, and governance of portfolio companies. Therefore, it is important to analyze and contribute new knowledge on how Venture Capital firms approach investing, manage risk, and simultaneously strive to create value in their portfolio companies. Purpose: The purpose of this study is to analyze the investment strategies of Venture Capital firms in a Swedish context, focusing on portfolio composition, required return, risk, and governance. Methodology: The study is based on a deductive approach and uses a qualitative method. Data collection consists of semi-structured interviews with 15 representatives from Venture Capital firms operating in the Swedish market. Conclusion: Venture Capital firms tend to specialize in specific industries and investment stages, while the number of companies and geographic focus vary. The single most common required return is 25 percent, and relative valuation is the most frequently used valuation method. Both internal and external risks are analyzed, and two risk management methods are identified. VC firms aim to be active owners, adjusting their level of involvement based on the needs of the portfolio companies. Their investment decisions are primarily based on their risk tolerance, expertise, and experience.

This study investigates the global relationship between venture capital (VC) investments and environmental pressure in order to contribute to the literature on the influence of venture capital on sustainable development. Using a unique dataset covering VC activity and CO2 intensity in 131 countries from 2011 to 2021, the study employs a revised STIRPAT model—a stochastic model for assessing the environmental impact of human activities. The aim is to examine the potential negative correlation between VC investments and CO2 intensity. This motivation stems from previous findings, indicating that increased VC investments spur the diffusion of eco-efficient technologies. The main results affirm a significant negative correlation between VC investments and CO2 intensity, even after controlling for relevant variables and potential confounding factors (e.g., foreign direct investments), country, and year fixed effects, and addressing potential endogeneity through lagging independent variables. Exploring heterogeneity in the baseline results reveals that these findings are consistent only for VC investments in the Asia-Pacific region, in emerging and developing economies, and in areas where they can contribute more to the development of green technologies and innovations. This suggests that VC activity may impact environmental intensity primarily in countries where emission regulations are less stringent or where existing technologies exhibit lower efficiency in terms of energy consumption.

Research Summary This paper investigates how reputation affects firm responses to resource mobilization opportunities. We theorize that lower-reputation firms are likely to be particularly responsive to resource mobilization opportunities because they are otherwise constrained. By contrast, higher-reputation firms have access to greater resource supply and may self-restrain demand. We test these arguments in the context of venture capital (VC) firms raising investment funds. We indeed find that lower-reputation VCs are more responsive to opportunities presented by recent successes. Unexpectedly, we find that high-reputation VCs are more responsive to market-wide heat. Through multi-method follow-on analyses, we propose that while recent successes constitute “windows of opportunity” upon which firms act with individual discretion, hot market conditions serve as “waves of opportunity,” exerting a push on the resource mobilization of all firms and influencing their propensity toward scaling up. Managerial Summary We explore how low- and high-reputation venture capital (VC) firms respond to fundraising opportunities such as recent successes or hot market conditions. We show that low-reputation VCs are more likely to fundraise from limited partners in response to firm-specific “windows of opportunity” (such as after a portfolio company IPO) because it is a rare chance to attract resource provider attention. By contrast, high-reputation firms are more likely to fundraise at their own pace, regardless of short-term successes. However, we unexpectedly find that high-reputation firms are more likely than low-reputation ones to take advantage of market-wide “waves of opportunity” (i.e., hot markets), likely because they benefit from increased fundraising process efficiency. Our study illustrates how hot market periods may be unusually advantageous fundraising opportunities for high-reputation firms and may be a key driver of when such firms scale up.

Prior research has investigated how the prices of stocks and commodities as well as inflation levels have been affected by the Russian war against Ukraine. So far, however, we know little about the impacts of the war on the entrepreneurial finance sector. Prior research on the effects of unexpected exogenous crisis events on entrepreneurial finance suggests a strong negative impact on new and follow-on funding for entrepreneurial ventures. Our study regards the Russian war against Ukraine as an unexpected exogenous crisis event and explores its impact on the entrepreneurial finance sector. It goes beyond a mere sentiment and impact analysis and also explores the underlying reasons and mechanisms as well as potential response and coping strategies employed by entrepreneurial finance investors. Based on two surveys of European venture capital (VC) and private equity (PE) investors, we find that the war had a strong negative impact on the two types of investors and their respective funds. Both VC and PE investors report more risk-aversion of limited partners (LPs) and LPs leaving the market as important challenges resulting in an overall lower willingness of LPs to invest. This applies in particular to banks, insurance funds, and pension funds. On the portfolio firm level, securing equity financing and maintaining liquidity were considered pressing issues. Overall, the situation seems to be more difficult for portfolio companies of VC as compared to PE investors. For the former, the financing- and liquidity-related issues seem to be more existential and survival-threatening. Responding to these challenges, both VC and PE investors altered their industry focus and put more emphasis on entrepreneurial experience. Financial investment selection criteria such as financial valuation, profitability, and cash- as well as revenue-generating capacity also increased in importance. Again, differences between VC and PE investors exist. Our study has implications for entrepreneuria

We analyze whether young entrepreneurial ventures backed by different types of venture capital firms, i.e., private (PVCs) vs. government-owned (GOVCs), experience higher employment growth than a matched control group of non-venture-backed companies and whether this effect is particularly relevant in a period of crisis. We base our analyses on a sample of 384 Spanish early-stage VC-backed companies financed during the period 2005-2013 (173 GOVC-backed and 211 PVC-backed) and a control group of 888 non-venture-backed peers. Our results show that PVCs exert a higher impact on employment growth in invested companies than GOVCs in investments carried out during a period of crisis whereas the opposite is found in the case of investments completed before the crisis. Moreover, we find that PVCs enhance their job-creation performance during a period of crisis while GOVCs significantly reduce their impact on employment in the investments carried out during the crisis. These findings could be attributed to the higher value added and monitoring granted by PVCs during the crisis., Depto. de Administración Financiera y Contabilidad, Fac. de Ciencias Económicas y Empresariales, TRUE, pub

In this paper, the demographic and investment profiles of business angels operating in the Czech Republic are evaluated based on a sample of 78 angel investors. This is the first attempt to use data on investor activities from the Pitchbook database, which has become increasingly popular in academic research. Beyond the framework of descriptive statistical analysis, a multidimensional statistical investigation using cluster analysis was conducted. The results show that there are two groups of angel investors in the Czech Republic. The first group is represented by investors who predominantly have a large active portfolio, as well as the number of total completed investments. On the other hand, the second cluster is made up of investors who conduct a smaller number of investments and are also in the position of the founder of a start-up. Not surprisingly, there are two main locations of angel investors in the Czech Republic, Brno and Prague. Both categories of typical investors are united by some demographic characteristics; for example, the market is dominated by middle-aged men with a completed Master's degree in Economics who invest in start-ups in the field of information and communication technologies. The main contribution of the paper consists in evaluating the demographic and investment profiles of angel investors operating in the Czech business environment. The results of the research have implications for upcoming research, the informal venture capital industry, and public policy beyond the Czech business environment, while developing tools for fostering an angel ecosystem. In today's globalized world, the boundaries of angel investors are often blurred. Just as start-ups have ambitions to expand internationally, informal venture capitalists are increasingly making cross-border deals. From the perspective of both investee firms and policy makers, it is thus important to know the profiles of not only domestic but also foreign business angels, e.g. with regar

Special Purpose Acquisition Companies (SPACs) can offer great advantages for companies planning on going public, including shortening times compared with conventional pathways to initial public offerings (IPOs). But SPACs can also present many risks, including subpar returns to investors and incomplete deals. Recently, SPACs have gained great media attention as markets saw a SPAC bubble boom and bust between 2020 and 2023, regulatory updates, and changing views about the value of SPACs. This report intends to offer Latin American and Caribbean entrepreneurs and investors a better understanding of SPACs as well as a regional context. How do SPACs work? Are SPACs a desirable exit vehicle for Latin American and Caribbean startups? What drove these recent trends and how were they reflected in the region? What continues to make SPACs attractive pathways for company growth and investments? What lessons can we draw after the recent bubble bust? What considerations must a LAC entrepreneur take into account when exploring SPACs? These are just some of the questions that this report addresses based on research about SPAC deals and interviews with Latin American and Caribbean SAPC sponsors, investors, and entrepreneurs.

DeepTech startups are companies based on a scientific discovery or meaningful engineering innovation. Deep Tech startups involve significant technological risk and R&D. However, Deep Tech innovation is critical to effectively address humanities grand challenges. DeepTech companies have the potential to catalyze change, establish new industries, and disrupt existing ones. Cutting-edge technologies like AI, solar power, electric vehicles, biotech, advanced manufacturing, and space-based broadband have the potential to pave new paths for economic growth, social equity, and environmental sustainability in the region. Today, with 340 ventured-back DeepTech startups, the DeepTech ecosystem in LAC is valued at USD 8 billion and has much potential to grow. The LAC region has strong advantages such as talent and R&D cost, to further develop and grow the DeepTech ecosystem in LAC. By fostering DeepTech in the region, LAC countries will benefit from the creation of jobs, as well as from potential access to improved basic products and services. Poor and vulnerable communities may greatly benefit from the adoption and creation of new technologies.

This paper reviews recent research results of the venture capital finance. The paper indicates that main contents of the theory are that how agency problems brought about by the information asymmetry through the contract design are solved and the value-added management service is provided. A number of empirical evidences provided by documents from some aspects such as the fund raising and the selection of the organization pattern, the project selection as well as the investment contract arrangement, post-investment management activities, withdrawal mechanism as well as the performance and so on are investigated. Problems in the research and possible research directions in the future are also discussed.

Purpose – The purpose of this study is to understand venture capital family businesses (VCFBs) governance of portfolio companies through the deal process. Design/methodology/approach – This study applies a theory-developing approach. A model of VCFB governance is developed whose key aspects are illuminated by four examples (cases) of VCFBs. Findings – Recent research suggests that a venture capital firm’s corporate deal processes can be divided intothe pre-deal, deal and post-deal phases. Based on the age, size and succession dimensions, propositions for how a governance trajectory develops for VCFBs, affecting the deal process of target family firms (TFFs), are presented. These propositions highlight how the family owners’ actions and behavior are related to VCFB governance, which in turn, influences the three phases involved in making an investment. Originality/value – The propositions suggest how personal and administrative VCFBs’ governance of the deal process of portfolio companies is significantly affected by centrifugal and centripetal forces that drive the respective types of governance where third-generation family owners appear as changers of governance approach., CC BY 4.0Article publication date: 14 December 2021Torbjörn Ljungkvist is the corresponding author and can be contacted at: torbjorn.ljungkvist@his.se

Dem deutschen Innovationssystem werden viele Defizite vorgeworfen: zu wenig Engagement bei der Digitalisierung, zu wenig Wagniskapital und zu wenige Unternehmensgründungen. In diesem Beitrag wird gezeigt, dass sich mit den sogenannten Company Buildern eine Form von Wagniskapital herausgebildet hat, die an den Institutionen des deutschen Innovationssystems anknüpft. Die Company Builder erleichtern den Gründer:innen den Einstieg am Markt und vielen traditionellen Mittelständlern den Kontakt mit der Startup-Welt. Dieser erfolgreiche und beschäftigungsorientierte Pfad sollte durch die Gründungs- und Wagniskapitalpolitik unterstützt werden.

type:Article, This research paper provides the recent landscape of high-technology start-ups in Japan. First, this paper analyzes the state of high-technology start-ups based on several quantitative metrics including market capitalization of listed companies, number of unicorns and number of start-ups. Second, this paper examines the start-up ecosystem from the lenses of entrepreneurship and access to capital. The low level of entrepreneurship and limited access to capital are barriers that are deeply rooted within Japan’s own idiosyncrasies, culture, and social patterns. This paper concludes that in the last two decades, the Japanese government has implemented various policies to create a vibrant ecosystem for its high-technology start-ups, but it remains a slow takeoff.

With the increasing importance of the third mission of universities, namely the commercialisation of science and research, universities have established various mechanisms such as technology transfer offices, business incubators and more. Since many investors tend not to invest in university spin-offs and start-ups due to the risk associated with their early stage, universities have established their own investment units, referred to as university-affiliated venture capital, to provide funding for university spin-offs and start-ups. As there is little academic research on the structure and functioning of these investment units, this paper contributes to this research by analysing the structure and investment process of university-affiliated venture capitals. For this purpose, 10 investment units in Denmark, Finland, the Netherlands, Norway, and Sweden were analysed. Among the key findings of this work is the recognition that UVCs essentially look for the abilities ofthe founders and the possibility of developing them into an effective team when selecting ventures. Inaddition, the financing instruments offered, and the ticket sizes of the investment units could be identified. While many UVCs use both equity investment and convertible loans, there is a slight bias towards convertible loans as the potential target companies are at such an early stage that valuations are very difficult to conduct and the UVCs have limited resources. Ticket sizes generally vary between 25,000 and 100,000 thousand euros., Med den ökande betydelsen av universitetens tredje uppgift, nämligen kommersialisering av vetenskap och forskning, har universiteten inrättat olika mekanismer som tekniköverföringskontor och företagsinkubatorer. Eftersom många investerare tenderar att inte investera i universitetsavknoppningar och nystartade företag på grund av den risk som är förknippad med deras tidiga skede, har universiteten inrättat sina egna investeringsenheter, så kallat universitetsanknutet riskkapital (UVC), för att tillhandahålla finansiering för universitetsavknoppningar och nystartade företag. Eftersom det inte finns så mycket akademisk forskning om strukturen och funktionen hos dessa investeringsenheter, bidrar denna uppsats till denna forskning genom att analysera strukturen och investeringsprocessen för universitetsanknutna riskkapitalbolag. För detta ändamål analyserades tio investeringsenheter; i Danmark, Finland, Nederländerna, Norge och Sverige. Bland de viktigaste resultaten av detta arbete finns insikten att UVC:er i huvudsak letar efter grundarnas förmågor och möjligheten att utveckla dem till ett effektivt team när de väljer ut företag. Dessutom kunde de finansieringsinstrument som erbjuds och investeringsstorlekarna identifieras. Även om många UVC:er använder både kapitalinvesteringar och konvertibla lån, finns det en viss övervikt för konvertibla lån eftersom de potentiella målföretagen befinner sig i ett så tidigt skede att värderingar är mycket svåra att genomföra och UVC:er har begränsade resurser. Investeringsstorlekarna varierar i allmänhet mellan 25 000 och 100 000 tusen euro.

The impact of venture capital (VC) funding for the entrepreneurial ecosystem and its value for economic development is proved by many studies and the industrial data; which is why it is important to have more insight in this area. Also considering the large risk & uncertainty involved in the VC business and its low success rates, it is particularly important to have insight into VC business performance. Briefly, VCs run a system that maximizes financial return to their investors by “exiting” the invested startups through different options of sale. Exits are considered crucial to a VC when evaluating startups. As for measuring VCs performance, data related to exits are considered as signals for VCs’ performance and can be used as a key element for successful follow-up investments. By using this correlation this thesis attempted to generate a profile of VC exits this by analyzing the Turkish VC exits in terms of their sector, fund type, exit stage, exit type, and exit duration; within a time interval of 10 years (2013-2022). A quantitative longitudinal study design was carried out by collecting secondary data on Turkish VC exits. The results enabled to reveal the most frequent profile of VC exits which hold following characteristics: Exits were mostly based on digital technologies belonging to E-commerce or Fintech sectors. Majority of the exits were realized after 2020 and within an exit duration of 3,5 years on average. They mostly exited from VCs or Micro VCs but Corporate Venture Capitals (CVC)are also becoming visible in the game. M&A type of exits were dominant compared to other types especially IPO was the least among them. Lastly, most of the exits were made at seed stage.Besides, a cross-correlation conducted between exit stages and fund type revealed that CVC exits were lower in late stages whereas highest in early stages. The revealed profile had interesting implications for the entrepreneurial ecosystem actors that could guide them in their future, Riskkapitalfinansiering (VC) är betydelsefullt för det entreprenöriella ekosystemet och för ekonomisk utveckling. Med tanke på den stora risk och osäkerhet som är involverad i VC-verksamheten och dess låga framgångsfrekvens, är det särskilt viktigt att ha kunskap om VC-verksamhetens resultat. Kortfattat, VC-bolag använder ett system som maximerar ekonomisk avkastning till sina investerare genom att "gå ur" de i startups de investerat i genom olika alternativ för försäljning eller börsnotering. Exit, dvs chansen att avsluta affären, anses vara avgörande för ett VC-bolag när man utvärderar startups. När det gäller att mäta VC-bolagens framgång, betraktas data relaterade till exits som signaler för VC-bolagens prestationer och kan användas som en nyckelindikator för framgångsrika uppföljningsinvesteringar. Genom att använda denna korrelation försökte denna uppsats att generera en profil av VC-exits detta genom att analysera de turkiska VC-exitsen i termer av deras sektor, fondtyp, exitstadium, exittyp och exitvaraktighet; inom ett tidsintervall på 10 år (2013-2022). En kvantitativ longitudinell studiedesign utfördes genom att samla in sekundära data om turkiska VC-utgångar. Resultaten gjorde det möjligt att visa den vanligaste profilen av VC-exits som har följande egenskaper: Exits baserades mestadels på digital teknik som tillhörde e-handels- eller Fintech-sektorer. Majoriteten av exit realiserades efter 2020 och inom en exitperiod på i genomsnitt 3,5 år. De lämnade mestadels VCs eller Micro VCs men Företags riskkapital (CVC) blir också synliga i spelet. M&A typ av exits var dominerande jämfört med andra typer, särskilt börsintroduktioner var minst vanlig bland dem. Slutligen gjordes de flesta exit i fröstadiet. Dessutom visade en korskorrelation mellan exit-stadier och fondtyp att CVC-exits var lägre i sena stadier medan högst i tidiga skeden. Kunskap om den vanligast VC-exit profilen har intressanta implikationer för de entreprenöriella ekosystemaktörer som kan

The prior Venture Capital research (VC) has examined the micro processes of syndication and alliance formation. However, a macro and more systemic view is lacking, where past research has neglected the global VC-ecosystem. Using a qualitative method and an abductive approach, we combine and integrate two strands of research, on VC and ecosystems, to shed light on the crucial dynamics in the VC industry. We provide a VC-ecosystem definition and portray the ecosystem architecture in a segmentation matrix of investor types and roles, including Active Hubs and Complementors. Moreover, our findings identify and explain central Hub orchestration mechanisms: enablers, governance, partner management, co-specialization, and nurturing. The study concludes with a discussion on the theoretical and managerial implications, and suggestions for future research on a global ecosystem, which operates at a higher level than the traditional firm-level ecosystems on which the previous research generally focuses., Validerad;2023;Nivå 2;2023-02-03 (sofila)

We assess the impact of monetary policy (i.e., central bank interest rates) on the activity of venture capitalists (VC). Using data from 31 countries from 2004 to 2019, we find that VC firms’ fundraising activity increases when interest rates become negative. We explain this finding by referring to the principal-agent relationship between general and limited partners of VC firms in combination with behavioral finance arguments. Specifically, we identify three channels pertaining to a legal motivation (i.e., legislative hurdles and litigation risks), a liquidity motivation (i.e., substitution effect relative to other asset classes), and behavioral biases (i.e., mental accounting, conservatism, disposition effect, or prospect theory).

Under de senaste decennierna har Venture Capital marknaden genomgått flera faser av tillväxt och tillbakagång. Fenomenet har uppmärksammats av tidigare forskning som konstaterat att externa drivkrafter är en av de bakomliggande faktorerna till volatiliteten, men där det råder en oenighet kring effekten. Denna studie undersöker hur externa drivkrafter påverkar svenska Venture Capital investeringar under perioden 2007–2021. Syftet är att analysera och förklara hur externa drivkrafter påverkar Venture Capital bolagens investeringsbeteende. Genom regressionsanalyser undersöktes hur IPO, aktiemarknaden, BNP och styrräntan påverkar totala investeringar men även investeringar i de olika faserna (sådd-, uppstart- och senare fasen). Resultaten visar att IPO är den mest betydelsefulla drivkraften som påverkar Venture Capital investeringar positivt i alla faser. Effekten blir allt större ju mognare bolaget är, eftersom eventuell exit ligger närmre i tiden. Vidare indikerar resultaten på att en positiv aktiemarknad påverkar investeringar negativt, men där signifikans endast påvisades i såddfasen. Förvånande är att både BNP och styrräntan har en icke signifikant negativ inverkan på Venture Capital investeringar. Utifrån studien går det att dra slutsatsen att externa drivkrafter har varit en bakomliggande orsak till de stora fluktuationerna i VC-investeringarna. IPO-marknaden har störst inverkan eftersom drivkraften är direkt hänförbar till investeringsprocessen. Studien är viktig för att förstå vad som driver Venture Capital investeringar och resultaten kan vara till nytta för såväl entreprenörer i behov av finansiering och politiska beslutsfattare som strävar efter att bibehålla en gynnsam investeringsmiljö., Over the past decades, the Venture Capital market has undergone several phases of growth and decline. This phenomenon has been acknowledged by previous researchers who have identified external drivers as an underlying factor of volatility, although the results differ. This study examines how external determinants influence the Swedish Venture Capital investments during the period 2007-2021. The aim is to analyze and explain how external determinants drive Venture Capital investments. Regression models were conducted to investigate how IPO, Stock market, GDP, and Interest rate affect both total investments and investments in different stages (seed, startup, and later stages). The results show that IPO is the strongest driver, positively affecting Venture Capital investments in all stages. The impact becomes greater as the company matures, since a potential exit is closer in time. Furthermore, the results indicate that a positive stock market has a negative impact on investments, although significance was only observed in the seed stage. Surprisingly, GDP and interest rate have a non-significant negative impact on Venture Capital investments. It can be concluded from this study that external determinants have been an underlaying cause of the fluctuations in Venture Capital investments. The IPO market has the greatest impact since it is directly related to the investment process. This study is important for understanding the drivers of Venture Capital investment, where the results can be useful for both entrepreneurs in need of financing and policymakers aiming to maintain a favorable investment environment.

The Transformer, an attention-based deep learning architecture, has shown promising capabilities in both Natural Language Processing and Computer Vision. Recently, it has also been applied to time series classification, which has traditionally used statistical methods or the Gated Recurrent Unit (GRU). The aim of this project was to apply multivariate time series classification to evaluate Transformer-based models, in comparison with the traditional GRUs. The evaluation was done within the problem of startup success prediction at a venture and private equity firm called EQT. Four different Machine Learning (ML) models – the Univariate GRU, Multivariate GRU, Transformer Encoder, and an already existing implementation, the Time Series Transformer (TST) – were benchmarked using two public datasets and the EQT dataset which utilized an investor-centric data split. The results suggest that the TST is the best-performing model on EQT’s dataset within the scope of this project, with a 47% increase in performance – measured by the Area Under the Curve (AUC) metric – compared to the Univariate GRU, and a 12% increase compared to the Multivariate GRU. It was also the best, and third-best, performing model on the two public datasets. Additionally, the model also demonstrated the highest training stability out of all four models, and 15 times shorter training times than the Univariate GRU. The TST also presented several potential qualitative advantages such as utilizing its embeddings for downstream tasks, an unsupervised learning technique, higher explainability, and improved multi-modal compatibility. The project results, therefore, suggest that the TST is a viable alternative to the GRU architecture for multivariate time series classification within the investment domain. With its performance, stability, and added benefits, the TST is certainly worth considering for time series modeling tasks., Transformern är en attention-baserad arkitektur skapad för djupinlärning som har demonsterat lovande kapacitet inom både naturlig språkbehandling och datorseende. Nyligen har det även tillämpats på tidsserieklassificering, som traditionellt har använt statistiska metoder eller GRU. Syftet med detta projekt var att tillämpa multivariat tidsserieklassificering för att utvärdera transformer-baserade modeller, i jämförelse med de traditionella GRUerna. Jämförelsen gjordes inom problemet med att klassificera vilka startup-företag som är potentiellt framgångsrika eller inte, och gjordes på ett risk- och privatkapitalbolag som heter EQT. Fyra olika maskininlärningsmodeller – Univariat GRU, Multivariat GRU, Transformer Encoder och en redan existerande implementering, TST – jämfördes med hjälp av två offentliga datamängder och EQT-datamängden som använde sig av en investerarcentrerad datauppdelning. Resultaten tyder på att TST är den modellen som presterar bäst på EQT:s datauppsättning inom ramen för detta projekt, med en 47% ökning i prestanda – mätt med AUC – jämfört med den univariata GRUn och en ökning på 12% jämfört med den multivariata GRUn. Det var också den bäst och tredje bäst presterande modellen på de två offentliga datamängderna. Modellen visade även den högsta träningsstabiliteten av alla fyra modellerna och 15 gånger kortare träningstider än den univariata GRUn. TST visade även flera potentiella kvalitativa fördelar som att använda dess inbäddningar för nedströmsuppgifter, en oövervakad inlärningsteknik, högre förklarabarhet och förbättrad multimodal kompatibilitet. Projektresultaten tyder därför på att TST är ett gångbart alternativ till GRUarkitekturen för multivariat tidsserieklassificering inom investeringsdomänen. Med sin prestanda, stabilitet och extra fördelar är TST verkligen värt att överväga för tidsseriemodelleringsproblem.

Having secured venture capital for their startups, digital entrepreneurs face a critical transition to the postinvestment phase. They must evolve new organizational models and demonstrate their capacity to operate in the present while maintaining attention to the future. This transition unfolds in a hyperturbulent context in which rapid growth is crucial owing to competitive advantages from scale and scope. While the present-future tension has received extensive attention in other domains, we know little about how it manifests and affects digital startups transitioning into the postinvestment phase. In this article, we examine entrepreneurs’ challenges during this transition through an action research study of the interactions between a venture capital firm and a set of digital startups. We identify eight salient challenges conceptualized as transition traps, then define and validate tactics for increasing digital startups’ readiness to navigate them. We identify the main transition traps and provide actionable advice for increasing digital startups’ readiness to navigate them.

With the global rise of impact investments to achieve societal goals, an increasing number of new ventures that aim to create societal impact now seek to go public. However, while many conceptual studies suggest that impact investors are less likely to pursue financially oriented exit plans in exchange for generating societal impact, there is little empirical evidence to back up this claim. Using a propensity score matching approach, we draw on data from Crunchbase and empirically compare the initial public offering (IPO) performance of a large sample of 3398 investments by impact investors with 3398 investments by matched venture capital (VC) investors. We find that impact investor investments are less likely to lead to an IPO than VC investments. Besides, our results indicate that syndication by impact investors increases the likelihood of an IPO. This suggests that companies funded by impact investors benefit more from syndication than their VC-funded counterparts. Our findings have practical implications for impact investors, portfolio ventures, and policymakers.

This study investigates the potential of large language models (LLMs), such as ChatGPT, to aid venture capitalists in the screening of startups that maximize sustainability impact. To determine the scope that maximizes impact for venture capitalists' and to identify effective screening criteria, the study utilized theoretical research and interviews. The thesis suggests that the ideal investment space is investments into high-risk, software-centric companies contributing to a sustainable system change that maximizes outcome impact instead of optimizing for environmental, social and governance metrics. This investment space along with other defined critical success factors were then deployed in an effort to test LLMs' efficacy in targeting companies maximizing impact. Two prompting techniques were trialed, one question-based prompt where questions on critical startup success factors were asked, and another using a comparative method where the characteristics of screened startups were matched with investor profile preferences. In both versions of the model, the provision of context proved indispensable to analyze relevant startups, given GPT-4’s knowledge cut-off in 2021. Without context, the LLM often could not provide an answer or provided an imaginary one, especially for younger startups. The question-based prompting could accurately address some specific questions, while the investor profile prompt showed the most promising results by being able to efficiently summarize and present relevant output text on the given areas of interest. It was also found that the quality of the data input in the model directly affects its efficacy and it is therefore necessary to pick data carefully to avoid biases and greenwashing. This was especially true for question-based prompting, since the investor profile prompt was better at conducting an overall assessment of the companies with scarce information, but did still struggle to produce insightful ratings. In terms of the specifi, How Venture Capital Can Unleash the Power of ChatGPT to Create a Sustainable Future If you had 100 million dollars, how would you invest to create the most positive impact on society and the environment? Venture capital is frequently brought up as a driving force of systematic change in society and the investing form that can create the biggest impact. Yet, the integration of sustainability in venture capital has until recently largely been overlooked, only now are firms starting to recognize its potential. With the introduction of OpenAI’s revolutionary model ChatGPT, the things we thought were possible to achieve with artificial intelligence were propelled to another level. ChatGPT already has broad applications, spanning from code generation and essay writing to even aiding investment decisions. We propose that with the help of ChatGPT, venture capital firms can finally embrace sustainability as an integral part of their business model, helping them to identify startups that maximize impact. Undoubtedly, investing in sustainable companies is paramount for solving the world’s social and environmental crisis. Venture capitalists’ (VCs) unique strategy, inclination towards short-term investments in high-growth ventures, has traditionally posed challenges for VCs incorporating impact investing. This is due to capital-intensive, long-term investments such as solar cells being on top of the sustainability agenda. By leveraging their existing capabilities to support high-risk, software-centric companies that drive sustainable system change, we argue that VCs can carve out a new, more appropriate space within impact investing. This novel and specific investing scope, requires a more sophisticated screening process than what is in place today. By harnessing the power of ChatGPT, our hypothesis was that VCs could refine and improve their way of identifying high-potential startups, and in turn find hidden gems in the impact space. To test our hypothesis, we performed a stud

El valle de la muerte puede ser definido como “una condición de bloqueo o latencia que viven los proyectos de innovación, para los que se ha avanzado en el desarrollo de dimensiones tecnológicas, pero aún falta madurar otras dimensiones del modelo de negocio, necesarias para llevar dichas innovaciones hasta etapas de desarrollo de nuevos productos (DNP), operación y comercialización”. (Yepes, 2022). Este fenómeno es objeto de estudio de la economía de la innovación. Dentro de la teoría dominante, ha predominado el uso de mecanismos alternativos de financiación, como respuesta a esta condición y estrategia para salir del valle de la muerte. Dentro de los mecanismos alternativos de inversión predomina el capital de riesgo (venture capital), el cual puede definirse como un instrumento de financiación para empresas de alto crecimiento en donde los inversionistas compran participaciones en estas empresas, aportando financiamiento, seguimiento, experiencia y contactos con la industria (Kelly & Kim, 2018). Este mecanismo está especialmente diseñado para atender la brecha que existe entre la demanda de capital por parte de las empresas emergentes y la oferta disponible por parte de instituciones privadas tradicionales y/o las instituciones públicas. Este trabajo tuvo por objetivo examinar la influencia del capital de riesgo en el desempeño financiero de un grupo de empresas en Colombia y su papel en la superación del valle de la muerte. Para ello se consultaron en bases de datos especializadas las operaciones de financiación con capital de riesgo que se realizaron en Colombia. Posteriormente, se seleccionó como periodo de análisis los años comprendidos entre el 2015 y el 2021 y se consultaron los resultados financieros de las empresas que recibieron financiación en dichos años. Este trabajo realiza contribuciones importantes al estudio del valle de la muerte, debido a que, a la fecha, a partir de la revisión de la literatura, no se identifican trabajos que hayan validado la, The valley of death can be defined as "a condition of blockage or latency experienced by innovation projects, for which progress has been made in the development of technological dimensions, but other dimensions of the business model, necessary to carry out said innovations up to the stages of new product development (DNP), operation and commercialization.” (Yepes, 2022). Within the dominant theory, the use of alternative financing mechanisms has predominated, as a response to this condition and as a strategy to get out of the valley of death. Within these alternative investment mechanisms, venture capital predominates, which can be defined as a financing instrument for high-growth companies where investors buy shares in these companies, providing financing, monitoring, experience and contacts with the industry (Kelly & Kim, 2018). This mechanism is specially designed to address the gap that exists between the demand for capital by emerging companies and the supply available by traditional private institutions and/or public institutions. The objective of this work was to examine the influence of venture capital on the financial performance of a group of companies in Colombia and its role in overcoming the valley of death. For this, the financing operations with venture capital that were carried out in Colombia were consulted in specialized databases. Subsequently, the years between 2015 and 2021 were selected as the analysis period and the financial results of the companies that received financing in those years were consulted. This work makes important contributions to the study of the valley of death, because, to date, from the review of the literature, there are no works that have been identified that have validated the occurrence of this phenomenon in technology-based companies in Colombia, as well as the influence of venture capital financing in the performance of these organizations from the financial point of view that are reflected in the overcoming, or not

Entrepreneurs who need funding often turn to the venture capital industry. In Sweden, women entrepreneurs represent a third of the total number of entrepreneurs. Meanwhile, women-owned businesses only raise one percent of the total venture capital in Sweden. Previous research has attempted to explain why male entrepreneurs raise more venture capital than women entrepreneurs, however, more research is needed to understand the circumstances for success. This leads to the study’s aim which is to create an understanding of what makes women entrepreneurs successful when raising venture capital, and how they do it, and the research questions, which are How do drivers enable women entrepreneurs to raise venture capital? How do women entrepreneurs overcome the different challenges that they meet when raising venture capital? To reach the study’s aim and answer the research questions a qualitative method was used. Semi-structured interviews with ten respondents, who were women entrepreneurs who had raised venture capital, were conducted. This study contributes new perspectives to the already existing field of entrepreneurship and venture capital, by providing a new framework showing how women entrepreneurs overcome challenges and use drivers for raising venture capital successfully. The results show how the respondents use their entrepreneurial, risk-prone, and highly self-confident personality in their relationship with investors and other entrepreneurs, to successfully raise venture capital. The findings in this study suggest that governmental agencies should provide more network possibilities with venture capitalist firms and investors for women entrepreneurs.

Bakgrund: Startups har svårt att generera kassaflöden under de första åren de är aktiva. För att kunna växa och utveckla sina produkter behöver de kontinuerligt resa kapital. Det är här Venture Capital bolag kommer in och hjälper med finansieringen. 2021 var ett rekordår för den svenska Venture Capital marknaden med höga värderingar som präglade marknaden. En nu pågående lågkonjunktur med hög inflation och höga räntor har gjort marknaden osäker. En sämre noteringsmarkand och svårare finansieringsmöjligheter har utmanat VC marknaden och dess utveckling framgent. Syfte: Studien syftar till att analysera svenska Venture Capital marknadens utveckling framöver utifrån relevanta aktörers uppfattning. Detta utförs genom att analysera investeringsmönster samt delar av investeringsprocessen hos Venture Capital bolag under tider av finansiell osäkerhet. Genomförande: Studien genomfördes med bakgrund i tidigare forskning som fanns inom områden som typiska Venture Capital bolag arbetar med, exempelvis finansiering, investeringsprocessen och exits. Empirin samlades in genom en kvalitativ metod baserat på intervjuer med ett semi-strukturerat intervjuformat från relevanta aktörer inom Venture Capital. Detta analyserades sedan med en induktiv ansats. Slutsats: Slutsatserna som kan dras är att en stor del av studien är i linje med tidigare forskning. Denna finansiella osäkerhet har påverkat VC marknaden genom att VC bolagen har tagit ett större aktivt ägande och har ställt om till ett portföljbolagsfokus för att säkerställa bolagens överlevnad. Vidare kommer VC:s finansieringsmöjligheter troligtvis minska med grund i sämre avkastning. Detta härleds till begränsade exit-möjligheter för tillfället, att det gjordes dåliga investeringar tidigare samt det höga ränteläget. Avslutningsvis menar VC:s att svenska marknaden har blivit mer konkurrensutsatt under senaste åren vilket satt sina spår i investeringsprocessen. Den har med grund i den ökade konkurrensen inte utförts ordentligt vilket

Investment decision-making processes within the Venture Capital (VC) industry are increasingly including sustainability impact aspects, particularly when investing in start-ups. However, the lack of a common understanding and standard for measuring sustainability presents a significant challenge. This thesis explores the current state of sustainability impact assessment within the VC industry, highlighting the gap between academic literature and practical reality. Through a literature review, desk research, and expert interviews, the frameworks and measures used in practice, and the extent to which they align with academic suggestions, are examined. In addition, the impact of the new EU regulation, the Sustainable Finance Disclosure Regulation (SFDR), on the development of sustainability assessment within VC investment processes is briefly examined. The findings reveal a need for a unified, holistic framework for assessing the sustainability impact of start-ups, emphasizing the potential of existing research streams and the importance of collaboration between academic and practical experts. This work serves as a steppingstone for practitioners, policy makers, and future research in the field of sustainability assessment and in particular of start-ups., Beslutsprocesser för investeringar inom riskkapitalbranschen inkluderar i ökande omfattning hållbarhetsaspekter, särskilt vid investeringar i nystartade företag. Avsaknaden av en gemensam förståelse och standard för att mäta hållbarhet utgör dock en betydande utmaning. Denna avhandling undersöker det aktuella läget för hållbarhetsbedömning inom VC-industrin och belyser klyftan mellan akademisk litteratur och praktisk verklighet. Genom en litteraturstudie, skrivbordsundersökningar och expertintervjuer undersöks de ramverk och mått som används i praktiken och i vilken utsträckning de överensstämmer med akademiska förslag. Dessutom undersöks kortfattat hur den nya EU-förordningen, Sustainable Finance Disclosure Regulation (SFDR), påverkar utvecklingen av hållbarhetsbedömningar inom riskkapitalinvesteringsprocesser. Resultaten visar att det finns ett behov av ett enhetligt, holistiskt ramverk för att bedöma hållbarhetseffekterna av nystartade företag, vilket betonar potentialen i befintliga forskningsströmmar och vikten av samarbete mellan akademiska och praktiska experter. Detta avhandling fungerar som en utgångspunkt för praktiker, beslutsfattare och framtida forskning inom området hållbarhetsbedömning och i synnerhet nystartade företag.

Bakgrund och Problem: Börsnoteringar förväntas ta fart igen under andra halvan av 2023. PE- och VC-aktörer är inte ovanligt inkluderande parter vid en börsnotering där de ofta spelar en central roll. Det finns tidigare forskning där det framgår att börsnoteringar uppnår en hög avkastning första handelsdagen samt att börsnoteringar där Private Equity och Venture Capital aktörer varit involverade presterar bättre än de där inte varit närvarande. Utifrån det och med hänsyn till den effektiva marknadshypotesen undersöker studien om det är möjligt att tillämpa en investeringsstrategi baserad på att investera i Private Equity och Venture Capital finansierade börsnoteringar. Syfte: Syftet med studien är att analysera hur Private Equity och Venture Capital finansierade bolag presterar dagarna efter börsnotering i förhållande mot jämförelseindex och huruvida det är en argumenterbar kortsiktig investeringsstrategi. Vidare, studeras hur det finansiella klimatet påverkar prestationen. Metod: Studien applicerar en kvantitativ forskningsmetod med en deduktiv ansats i linje med tidigare studier i mån om att uppnå studiens syfte. Studiens mätperiod sträcker sig från 2002–2022 och är avgränsad till börsnoteringar som gjorts på Nasdaq OMX Stockholm. Investeringsstrategin har tillämpats genom att investera i bolagens teckningskurser och sedan har bolagens prestation analyserats under de tio första handelsdagarna. För att undersöka investeringsstrategins förmåga att generera avkastning i förhållande till jämförelseindex användes BHAR som avkastningsmått tillsammans med Mann-Whitney U-tester och en regressionsanalys. Slutsats: Studien konstaterar att investeringsstrategin ger en lägre avkastning än jämförelseindex sett till mätperioden och fördelningen av positiv och negativ BHAR. Det framgår även att om det är en grad av underprissättning dvs. att det är positiv avkastning första handelsdagen är det i hög utsträ, Background and problem: IPOs are expected to increase in the second half of 2023. PE- and VC- actors are not uncommonly inclusive parties in an IPO where they often play a central role. There is previous research showing that IPOs achieve high returns on the first day of trading and that IPOs when private equity and venture capital actors are involved perform better than when they are not involved. Based on this and considering the efficient market hypothesis, the study examines whether it is possible to apply an investment strategy based on investing in Private Equity and Venture Capital funded IPOs. Purpose: The purpose of this study is to analyze how Private Equity and Venture Capital funded companies perform the days after IPO in relation to the benchmark index and whether it is an arguable short-term investment strategy. Furthermore, the impact of the financial environment on performance is studied. Methodology: The study applies a quantitative research method with a deductive approach in line with previous studies to achieve the study's purpose. The study's measurement period extends from 2002- 2022 and is limited to listings made on Nasdaq OMX Stockholm. The investment strategy was applied by investing in the companies' offer prices and then analyzing the companies' performance during the first ten days of trading. To examine the ability of the investment strategy to generate returns relative to the benchmark index, BHAR was used as a performance measure along with Mann-Whitney U-tests and a regression analysis. Conclusions: The study finds that the investment strategy underperforms the benchmark over the measurement period and the distribution of positive and negative BHAR. It also shows that if there is a degree of underpricing, i.e., a positive return on the first trading day, there is a high degree of continued positive returns over the next ten days. Finally, those IPOs that went public during a recovery phase of the business cycle show the most posit

Deep technology (DT) startups develop physical products based on cutting-edge technologies to create entirely new markets. Consequently, they have a comparably high demand for specialized infrastructure, expert knowledge and extended development cycles which result in large capital expenditures. However, especially early-stage (pre-seed/seed) DT startups often fail to raise sufficient funding from investors due to their large capital needs, severe technical challenges often not fully understood by investors, and long time to market. Therefore, this paper analyses the underlying issues by developing a model to support early-stage DT startups by assessing their fit with different investor types (e.g., business angels, venture capital, or other investment opportunities) in order to streamline and focus their funding process. This is achieved by applying the principal-agent-framework to model the information asymmetry between different investor types and DT startups. Relevant signals between startups and investors are derived from literature, adapted to the requirements set by the signaling theory, as an approach to counteract the information asymmetry, and included into the model.