M.Com. (Business Management) / With organisations facing increased pressure due to the tougher economic climate, there is an increasing need to remain competitive and profitable. One such way an organisation can endeavour to do this, is through the implementation of corporate entrepreneurship. As a form of corporate entrepreneurship, corporate venturing is gaining prevalence as a method with which an organisation can take advantage of opportunities in the environment that can contribute to the overall competitiveness and profitability of the organisation. The purpose of this study was to explore the organisational motives for pursuing corporate venturing. A literature study and interviews with respondents, who met the criteria of the study, were the chosen means of collecting data. The study examined through the literature review, the subjects supporting the objectives of the research, namely the definition of corporate venturing, the different types of corporate venturing that exist, and the main reasons why an organisation would venture. Each subject was investigated individually, after which the research literature was evaluated to determine the most common reasons why an organisation would choose to implement corporate venturing. The research methodology for the study made use of a qualitative research technique, and the primary data were gathered via personal interviews. The questions put forward to the respondents were aligned with the objectives and propositions as set out in the study. The literature review and data obtained through the respondents suggested that the reasons for pursuing a corporate venture were varied and cannot necessarily be singled out; organisations chose to implement a corporate venture for several reasons. Therefore, there were similarities between the motives as identified in the literature, and the motives identified by the respondents who participated in the study.

Venture capital has been a key driver of economic growth and employment. Venture capital funds consider many aspects when selecting targets for investment including the level of innovativeness present within the target’s products and services. This research examines what factors are considered to be most important by traditional and corporate venture capital investors during their investment decision. It continues to investigate the nature of the relationship between the level of innovativeness in products and services and the success in achieving two important steps in the venture capital value creation cycle: receiving investment funding and achieving commercial success. The research finds higher levels of innovation correlate strongly with both value-adding factors, and discovers many additional considerations prioritised by venture capital investors. An additional perspective for considering the value creation from innovation is also proposed. / Dissertation (MBA)--University of Pretoria, 2013. / lmgibs2014 / Gordon Institute of Business Science (GIBS) / MBA / Unrestricted

The paper introduces venture leasing as a complement to venture capital. Venture leasing provides additional funds for start-up companies in exchange for equity stake in the company. This financing option is commonly used in the United States, but started being implemented in Europe as well.

Private equity is described as medium to long term financing of non-quated companies with high growth potential. Venture capital refers to investments made to get the companies off the ground or to expand. This thesis describes an investment process with focus on its crucial parts, identifies factors that make from venture capital a suitable partner for expanding abroad and analyzes development of provate equity funds in Central and Eastern Europe.

This thesis maps factors, that are barrier to more significant cooperation between Czech universities and foreign venture capital funds. On one hand I examine the processes inside of venture capital fund, on the other hand I study the ways, in which is science supported in the Czech Republic, how centres for technology transfers are functioning and how motivated are scientists to patent their findings and start their own business. The result is evaluation of the factors that influence the decision on the investor, who is contemplating investment either in the Czech Republic or USA.

The objective of this diploma thesis is to introduce the sector of Private Equity and Venture Capital which is aimed to finance perspective companies that are not publicly traded. The first chapter presents the development of sector and main featuring players on the market. The second chapter explains phases of the investment process. The topic of the third chapter is analysis of the sector in terms of development trends and comparisom of particular types of investment as well as comparison of the main markets which are the USA and Europe. The goal of the last chapter is to present and analyze the Alternative Investment Market in London as a new market for the venture capital backed companies.

The venture capital (VC) contract prescribing various deal terms and conditions is considered vitally important to the VC investment process and should provide incentives for the entrepreneur whilst managing the venture capitalists (VCs) financial risk. This aspect of venture capital has not been extensively studied in South Africa especially amongst public sector funding agencies which have become an important source for early-stage VC funding. The objective of this study was to determine whether public sector VC investment terms in South Africa have been effective in supporting entrepreneurs and managing risk. The effectiveness of government‟s VC intervention was gauged through assessing various perceptions of entrepreneurs and public sector VCs on typical deal terms and conditions put in place between them. The perception study focused on 14 terms or provisions in relation to its frequency of use, importance to stakeholders, effectiveness in managing risk, rationale for inclusion and acceptance by entrepreneurs. The research found that VCs and entrepreneurs alike generally agree on the typical terms that should be included in the VC contract. Most of the terms which entrepreneurs considered to be important for the enterprise were also frequently used in VC contracts suggesting that the terms were generally effective in supporting entrepreneurs. Nevertheless, the research points towards a greater need for VCs to use incentivising terms such as the clawback provision in their contracts since the terms most frequently used were perceived to be effective in managing investment risk. Copyright / Dissertation (MBA)--University of Pretoria, 2010. / Gordon Institute of Business Science (GIBS) / unrestricted

A country’s economic growth is often related to its ability to be innovative. Innovation is unluckily difficult to measure and it is hard to find a specific source of innovation. Start-ups/new firms are however one of those specific sources. One investment type that has specialized in investing in young and highly technological portfolio-companies is venture capital. This thesis therefore aims to investigate the impact that the venture capital industry has on young and innovative companies in Sweden by a literature review and a quantitative study of approximately 60 different companies. By firstly thoroughly examining the underlying scientific theory for this subject and furthermore examining both the international as well as the Swedish venture capital industry it was possible to conduct an empirical study. A selection of young companies was taken from an impartial source and then identified as innovative or not by Schumpeter’s definition of innovation. Moreover these companies were investigated on the premises on whether they had been invested in by venture capital or not. It was found that the Swedish venture capital industry is highly involved in young and innovative Swedish companies, and a linkage between innovation and venture capital exists. However the answer to the question on whether it is venture capital that drives innovation or if it is already innovative companies that attract venture capital is inconclusive in this thesis and future studies in this field is needed.

This diploma thesis aims to discover, how crowdfunding influences traditional distributional structures. There are many possibilities, how to approach the problem. I have decided to compare the role of the intermediary in different forms of financing. This means, that by "distributional structures", I understand forms of financing. I compare five forms of financing, that altogether define all important kinds of financial transactions between two subjects: The bilateral model, Crowdfunding, Venture Capital, Market and Banks. As a tool for comparing all the forms, I created "Intermediate chain", that describes the way from one demanding subject, who realises his needs, through finding offering subject, to making and fulfiling a contract. I use the intermediate chain, that analyses this way, to describe all the forms of financing. The outcome of this process is a very detailed description. I describe all the models to verify, how crowdfunding takes over the function of other models. The theoretical frame of the analysis is disintermediation. Only by putting the analysis into this theoretical frame, the whole thesis becomes reasonable: The point is not to describe all the models, how people trade with each other. By the question about the influence of crowdfunding on traditional distributional structures, I...

<p> This dissertation studies the underexplored topic of contract design, emphasizing the cash flow, control and veto rights from the management perspective between the entrepreneurial venture and its investor, namely the venture capital investors. Cash flow rights are provisions that jointly determine the extent to which the VC receives a greater fraction of the startup’s cash flows. Depending on how these provisions are designed, it could protect VC’s interest, enabling the VC to capture more value at the expense of the entrepreneur. Control rights are determined by how much board seats VC and the entrepreneur agree to take. Board membership, by definition, provide directors with critical voting rights, enabling them to control venture’s strategy. Lastly, veto rights are negative covenants that protects VC’s interest by specifying what preferred shareholders (i.e., VCs) can stop an action from a venture. Across three empirical essays, I examine the antecedents and consequences of VC contract design. Certificate of incorporation is the key document (i.e., contract) signed and filed by the venture that establishes the rights, preferences, privileges, and restrictions of classes and series of the venture’s stock. By going over the contracts, I created a unique data set that contains detailed information about and exploit a unique research opportunity studying factors that influence the design of contracts and the strategic consequences of such contracts </p>