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This paper provides evidence of the broad government presence in the European venture capital industry. Two forms of intervention are considered: first, direct stand-alone government venture capital funds and, second, indirect private funds to which governments commit funds as limited partners. The overall government presence seems to be much more important than previously documented, as we find that the government intervenes, on average, in 42.2% of venture capital investments in Europe. We also show that European countries are heterogeneous in their use of these two channels, and we consider possible early explanations for this choice of policy mix. Lastly, we provide some evidence on the consequences of these policies in terms of SME's perceived access to financing.

"January 2011." ; Includes bibliographical references (p. 10). ; Mode of access: Internet.

Technovation Vol.33 Nr.4 - 5, 154 - 162 ; Government venture capital (GVC) funds have been a common policy initiative in European countries to overcome funding gaps in the promotion of early-stage ventures. In this work, we focus on the performance of such government funds. We compare the importance for the firm's development of post-investment, valueadded activities by GVC firms and independent venture capital (IVC) firms.We use a unique data set based on the results of a survey addressed to young high-techVC-backed firms from seven European countries. The survey gauged the importance of the contribution by the first lead investor in a variety of activity areas, as assessed by the investee companies. Attention was paid to potential adverse effects of the post-investment engagement of investors.Using a composite indicator of the value added, we find no statistically significant difference between the two types of investors. However, the profiles of value added differ across investor types, and, in particular, the contributions of IVC funds prove to be significantly higher than those of GVC funds in a number of areas, including the development of the business idea, professionalisation and exit orientation.

AbstractThe past 40 years have witnessed the growth of government venture capital (GVC) in China. This work reviews the brief history of GVC in China, as an example of emerging markets, and puts forward several major drawbacks. First, it is unclear which bureau is exactly responsible for GVC, resulting in redundant, sometimes conflicting regulations. Second, a lack of integrated financial planning leads to a mismatch between the situation of local enterprises and actual investments. Moreover, due to the lack of a market‐oriented management system, GVC fund managers are not fully motivated. We propose corresponding remedies and discuss the implications.

The evolution of information technology (IT) has outpaced the federal acquisition system's ability to keep up. And as the United States security strategy increasingly demands information superiority to defeat its enemies, national security institutions cannot afford to lag behind the advancements in IT. The CIA addressed their inability to procure the cutting-edge technologies needed to meet their mission requirements and adopted an innovative acquisition strategy to bridge the gap. They engaged the IT sector through In-Q-Tel, a venture capital firm that invests Agency money in companies that could produce commercially viable technologies to fill the Intelligence Community's (IC) pressing IT shortfalls. This thesis explores two aspects of the In-Q-Tel model, whether In-Q-Tel creates relationships between the IC and promising technology companies that would not have occurred otherwise, and the contributions In-Q-Tel makes to its portfolio companies that contribute to their success. The results of this study suggest that In-Q-Tel has promoted new relationships between the IC and technology firms that were not actively seeking the government market as well as bringing the IC together with technology companies that had viable technology solutions but for various reasons could not connect with the right users within the IC. Findings also show that In-Q-Tel's technical validation of its portfolio companies' products, its established network of investors and technology users within the IC, and the capital provided to fund product development and/or operating expenses are highly valued by its portfolio companies and directly contributed to the companies' success.

AbstractDue to externalities and market failure, innovation activities are facing insufficient investment. Venture capital guidance funds (VCGFs) are an important policy implemented by China's government to guide private capital to participate in innovation and entrepreneurship activities, and it can have an important impact on scientific and technological innovation. Based on the panel data of 285 cities in China, this paper empirically analyzed the impact of VCGFs on innovation and its mechanism. VCGFs can significantly promote urban innovation and this role is sustained for three years following VCGF establishment. Further research shows that VCGFs do not have a direct impact on innovation but promote innovation by promoting the accumulation of innovative talent and capital, and the capital accumulation effect of VCGFs is the main path through which they promote urban innovation. Corruption is also a factor that restricts the effectiveness of an innovation policy. Thus, China's top‐down anticorruption campaigns can strengthen the ability of VCGFs to promote urban innovation. This paper opens the black box to show the mechanism through which VCGFs impact urban innovation, affirms the important role of the government in the regional innovation system, and clarifies the debate on government innovation policy.

We investigate the effectiveness of government backed venture capital schemes (GVCs) in funding early stage entrepreneurial ventures. Addressing fundamental issues of additionality, crowding out, economic impact and sustainability, we discover that UK GVC-backed schemes have evolved to provide more effective, targeted, funding for high growth potential firms. Combining primary data from a number of sources, we discover positive impacts of increases in turnover and employment in funded ventures, along with effective targeting of specific funding gaps. Significant issues remain, including a lack of liquidity in follow-on funding and a requirement for longer time horizon in funds, as firms typically fall behind in development schedules. There is, therefore, a need for greater flexibility in GVC-backed funds. Policy designers should be cognisant of the changing external financing ecosystem when designing co-investment schemes.