For VC-backed startups, their investors – who are also their main stakeholders – play a critical role. Only a limited number of notable contributions regarding in-depth examinations of stakeholders in the turnaround process exist. Several research studies highlight the research gap with regard to stakeholder management in turnaround situations. Due to the small and insufficient body of literature regarding the role of VCCs in turnarounds, I conducted an exploratory, qualitative empirical study based on four comprehensive turnaround cases, interviewing 14 co-founders and investors. Through a grounded theory approach, I developed a turnaround model, which takes into account the VCCs’ involvement. This dissertation shows that the general value-adding services of VCCs are during a turnaround only partially apparent. Moreover, the importance of the agency theory was again confirmed. It became clear how important continuous monitoring is for investors in order to identify problems in a portfolio company. Additionally, the findings show how important a good relationship between all parties involved is and how trust and transparency are essential during a turnaround.

This paper analyzes the determinants of venture capital (VC) investments after the 2008 Global Financial Crisis. We conduct a quantitative study using panel data methods with a data set of 17 OECD countries over the years 2007-2017. We use the reduced form models to analyze three main groups of factors affecting the demand for and supply of VC. The three groups include macroeconomic conditions, entrepreneurial environment, and technological opportunities. The results reveal that the short-term interest rate, market capitalization and the population percentage with tertiary education have a positive impact on venture capital investments, meanwhile, the unemployment rate, corporate profit tax and the growth of market capitalization are negatively correlated to VC investments. Moreover, we also perform regression analysis using the Financial Crisis period data and try to capture the effects of the crisis on the driving forces of VC investments. According to the comparison of regression results using data of different periods, we find that the Financial Crisis generates huge economic fluctuations, which makes the effects of determinants difficult to capture. / 本论文分析了2008全球金融危机之后风险投资的决定因素。我们采集了17个OECD国家2007到2017年的面板数据，进行了一项量化研究。我们使用了简化模型对三类影响风险投资需求和供给的因素进行了分析。这三类包括了宏观经济条件、企业生存环境和科技机会。分析结果显示短期利率、市值和国民高等教育比例与风险投资量显著正相关，与此同时，失业率、企业利润税率以及市值增长率与风险投资量显著负相关。我们也使用了金融危机时的数据进行了回归分析，试图捕捉金融危机对风险投资决定因素的影响力改变。比较了不同时期数据的回归结果，我们发现金融危机会带来巨大的经济波动，使得风险投资的决定因素失灵或者很难捕捉。 关键词: 风险投资 风险投资决定因素 金融危机 面板数据

Recently several European countries have announced massive increases in their military budgets. Innovation initiatives organized by NATO and the European Defence Fund will also be conducted over the coming decade. Studying how these resources can be deployed efficiently is crucial if these initiatives are to provide maximum benefits to European defense capabilities and the civilian sector through spillover-effects. This thesis explores what factors characterize high-performing startups in defense in order to give defense innovation initiatives an indication on how to spend their resources. The results should also be useful for aspiring entrepreneurs in defense who wish to increase their chances of creating a high-performing startup in the sector. The factors that are studied are company industry, company patents and governmental funding. These are examined in a quantitative study, followed by illustrations for the most successful companies in the dataset. It is found that the company industry for the most successful companies is surprisingly similar, with a heavy focus on software over hardware. The illustrations also highlight the need for governmental contracts in the scale-up stage of companies. / Flera europeiska länder har nyligen meddelat att de kommer att göra massiva ökningar i sina försvarsbudgetar. NATO och europeiska försvarsfonden kommer även att organisera innovationsinitiativ under det kommande årtiondet. Det är viktigt att studera hur dessa resurser kan distribueras effektivt så att dessa initiativ kan göra maximal nytta för europeisk försvarsförmåga och för den civila sektorn genom spill-over effekter. Denna avhandling undersöker vilka faktorer som karaktäriserar högpresterande startups inom försvarsindustrin för att ge innovationsinitiativ en indikering på hur de bör distribuera sina resurser. Resultaten från denna avhandling borde även vara användbara för aspirerande entreprenörer inom försvarsindustrin som vill öka sina chanser att skapa en högpresterande startup. De faktorer som studeras är industri, patent och statlig finansiering. Dessa faktorer undersöks i en kvantitativ studie samt i två illustreringar över de två mest framgångsrika företagen i den data som står till grund för denna avhandling. Det visar sig att de två mest framgångsrika företagen i datan har en väldigt liknande industrifokus, med ett starkt fokus på mjukvara över hårdvara. Illustrationerna påvisar också ett behov för statliga kontrakt i uppskalningsfasen för företag inom försvarsindustrin.

This thesis examines the initial performance of private equity-backed IPOs in relation to non-private-equity-backed IPOs listed on Nasdaq Stockholm and Nasdaq First North Growth Market during the years 2011-2021. It further measures the effect of independent variables on the return after the first day- and first week of trading as well as if the first day performance impacts the first week performance. Previous research finds that IPOs in general are underpriced, and that private equity-backed IPOs tend to perform poorer than non-private-equity-backed IPOs on the first day of trading. Previous research further finds that underpriced IPOs have poor aftermarket performance since the issues usually decline during the first couple of days of trading, subsequently converging towards a lower price rapidly after listing, making it less profitable to invest in an IPO in the aftermarket. Univariate and multivariate analyses test this and the findings indicate that the first day return impacts the first week performance. It also finds that larger private equity-backed IPOs are underpriced and show poorer first day performance compared with larger non private-equity-backed-IPOs. Yet, this is not found to hold for the total sample covering all offering sizes. However, our findings cannot confirm that private equity-backed IPOs would show poorer performance compared with non-private-equity-backed IPOs after the first week of trading. Among the independent variables, the nominal offer price was found to have a significant impact on the first day return alongside with which stock exchange the company was listed on.

Global sustainability challenges are becoming increasingly more severe and the deadline for the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) set in Agenda 2030 is approaching rapidly. Venture capital investments in sustainable start-up businesses is considered to be a key success factor for a long-term sustainable development across the globe. Evaluating which early-stage companies that can be considered truly sustainable can however be difficult to determine for venture capitalists, especially in early-stage investment rounds. This study has aimed to increase the understanding of sustainability assessment processesutilized by Swedish university holding companies. Data collection was mainly executed through semi-structured interviews with representatives from six university holding companies, an industry association, and a limited partner. The main areas of interest have revolved around three distinct topics: how sustainability is currently assessed by university holding companies, what aspects that influence the assessment capability and how the sustainability assessment process could be improved. These investigation subjects are also closely related to the articulated research questions. Empirical findings indicate that university holding companies mainly rely on intuition and mapping of prospects’ business idea against the Sustainable Development Goals established by the United Nations when assessing sustainability. The characteristics of prospects, the governmental entity responsibility and the organizational structure were all aspects that seemed to have great influence on the assessment capability. A five-stage impact measurement and management process was finally suggested for the university holding companies, consisting of: (1) reviewing the strategic mission; (2) conducting due diligence; (3) integrating metrics; (4) monitoring impact and; (5) evaluating final impact. Future studies are encouraged to adopt quantitative or longitudinal research approaches, while also including a greater number of interviewees from larger governmental institutions and impact-oriented investors, in an attempt to further generalize the findings of this study.

Den tidigare stabila finansbranschen har snabbt blivit hotad av den digitala transformationen. Ett strategiskt verktyg som används av etablerade banker som står inför denna nya och föränderliga miljö är strategiska riskkapitalinvesteringar i det närliggande området av finansiella teknologier (FinTech). Denna studie undersöker strategiskt riskkapital i termer av organisatorisk design; närmare bestämt graden av autonomi i riskkapitalverksamhetens investeringsprocess. Studien undersöker konceptet riskkapitalautonomi och analyserar kvalitativt konsekvenserna av den valda nivån av autonomi.  En abduktiv metodologi används, där insamling av empiriska data från fyra fallföretag sammanflätas med en omfattande litteraturstudie inom området organisationsdesign. Studien genererar en förlängning av den aktuella litteraturen då få tidigare studier undersökt riskkapitalorganisationers grad av autonomi och dess konsekvenser i kvalitativa termer.  Studien finner att graden av autonomi hos strategiska riskkapitalverksamheter i finansindustrin bör mätas på en kontinuerlig skala, och föreslår en sådan skala baserad på två dimensioner: autonomin i sökandet efter möjliga investeringar och autonomin i beslutsprocessen. Studien finner också skillnader i de valda nivåerna av autonomi hos det studerade urvalet och diskuterar två möjliga förklaringar till dessa skillnader; målet med riskkapitalaktiviteten samt miljön organisationen verkar i.  Vidare visar studien att olika grader av självständighet ger olika kvalitativa möjligheter och begränsningar för riskkapitalorganisationer vars syfte är att uppnå strategiska fördelar för ett kapitalgivande bolag. Det visar sig att en lägre grad av autonomi underlättar för riskkapitalenheten att leverera strategiskt värde till kapitalgivaren, men att det även kan begränsa vilka investeringar enheten kan göra. Högre autonomi kan istället möjliggöra fler typer av investeringar men begränsar vilken kunskap, och därmed strategisk nytta, riskkapitalenheten kan leverera till kapitalgivaren.  Studien konkluderar att flera aspekter är viktiga att ta hänsyn till vid beslut av en riskkapitalenhets grad av autonomi och bidrar med en fördjupad förståelse av den strategiska ledningen av riskkapitalaktiviteter. / The previously stable financial industry has rapidly been threatened by the digital transformation. One strategic tool used by incumbent banks facing this new and changing environment is strategic venture capital investments in the closely related field of financial technologies (FinTech). This research studies strategic venture capital in terms of the organisational design of VC activities; more specifically, the degree of autonomy of the VC’s investment process. The study investigates the concept of VC autonomy and qualitatively analyses the implications of the chosen level of autonomy. An abductive approach is used, performing empirical data collection on four case companies  and intertwining the results with an extensive literature study within the field of organisational design and performance. The study generates an extension of the current literature as few previous studies have investigated a VC’s level of autonomy and its implications in qualitative terms. The study finds that the degree of autonomy of strategic VCs should be measured on a continuous scale, and proposes such a scale based on two dimensions: the autonomy of the sourcing of possible investments, and the autonomy of investment decision-making. Furthermore, the study reveals a variance in the chosen levels of autonomy of the studied sample, and discusses two possible explanations for this variance; the objectives of the VC activity and the environment the VC operates in. Furthermore, the study shows that different degrees of autonomy induce different qualitative opportunities and limitations for VCs aiming to achieve strategic benefit for a capital providing company. A lower degree of autonomy is shown to facilitate for the VC to deliver strategic value, but may limit which investments it can make. Higher autonomy can on the contrary enable more types of investments but limit which knowledge, and thus strategic benefit, the VC can deliver. The study concludes that several aspects are of high importance to consider when choosing a VC’s degree of autonomy and contributes with a deeper understanding of the strategic management of VC activities.

Низкий уровень инновационного развития РФ и малое количество венчурных сделок обуславливает необходимость в комплексной оценке стартапа. Целью магистерской диссертации является разработка методики экономической оценки стартапов в сфере образовательных технологий. Анализ основывался на изучении научно-периодической литературы, изучении существующих методик оценки стартапа и степень их использования на венчурном рынке. В качестве источников информации использовались база публикаций Российского индекса научного цитирования, представленная на ресурсе Elibrary, данные корпоративной статистики по тематике исследования, внутренние документы исследуемого стартапа. В ходе написания магистерской диссертации была разработана и апробирована методика экономической оценки стартапа в сфере образовательных технологий. Использование разработанного инструментария нацелено на проведение комплексной оценки внутренних и внешних возможностей стартапа с целью принятия решения об инвестировании. Апробация разработанной методики позволила рассчитать ключевые экономические метрики стартапа, комплексно определив внешний и внутренний потенциал бизнеса с учетом особенностей сферы образовательных технологий. / The low level of innovative development in the Russian Federation and the small number of venture transactions necessitates a comprehensive assessment of startups. The purpose of the master's thesis is to develop a methodology for the economic evaluation of startups in the field of educational technologies. The analysis was based on the study of scientific periodical literature, the study of existing methods for evaluating a startup and the degree of their use in the venture capital market. As the source of information were used the base of publications of the Russian Science Citation Index, presented on the Elibrary; corporate statistics data on the research topic; internal documents of the investigated startup. During the writing of the master's thesis there was developed and tested method of economic evaluation of a startup in the field of educational technologies. The use of the developed toolkit is aimed at carrying out a comprehensive assessment of the internal and external capabilities of a startup in order to make an investment decision. The approbation of the developed method allowed to calculate the key economic metrics of the startup, comprehensively determining the external and internal potential of the business, taking into account the features of the sphere of educational technologies.

<p><br></p> <p>In my dissertation research I document information price discovery through investments in the alternate asset class of Venture Capital. The two chapters of this dissertation studies the effect of these investments in two different contexts. The first chapter analyses improvements in valuations of venture capital funds through syndication by VC funds. The second chapter documents improvements in stock prices, and valuations, of publicly traded firms through investments by institutional investors in VC funds and in public equity.</p> <p><br></p> <p>In the first chapter I examine the effect of syndication among venture capital (VC) funds on the funds' incentives to manipulate their performance measures. I show that the presence of new syndicate partners reduces misreporting by VC funds. About half of the reduction in manipulation is during the follow-on fundraising period. To identify that syndicate partners reduce performance misreporting I use: (i) a triple-difference approach around fundraising and (ii) availability-of-syndicate-partners as an instrument for the number of new syndicate partners. The implications of my findings are that LPs should better monitor VC funds with fewer new syndicate partners and regulators should consider the presence of peer-monitoring among VC funds before imposing disclosure requirements.</p> <p>  </p> <p>  Chapter two includes John J. McConnell, Timothy E. Trombley, and M. Deniz Yavuz as coauthors. In this chapter we report evidence consistent with institutional investors using industry-level information that they obtain from their investments in venture capital (VC) funds to earn excess returns in publicly-traded equities.  We use court rulings regarding the Freedom of Information Act as an exogenous shock affecting the information flow between VC firms and institutional investors to show that the excess returns are explained by information received via this channel.  Thus, institutional investors serve as conduits of information, making publicly-traded stock prices more efficient.  In the process, institutional investors earn higher returns from their VC investments than implied by the cash flows thereby received. </p>

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Given the importance that entrepreneurship and start-up businesses operating in technology-intensive sectors (biotechnologies, life sciences, renewable energy, artificial intelligence, information & communication technologies, software, etc.) have come to play as part of the processes of economic development and jobs creation, the access of such entrepreneurs and businesses to appropriate levels of corporate finance has become a major focus of policymakers in recent decades. Yet, this gave way to a wide variety of policy models across nation-states and even within nation-states, as levels of government and market actors adapted to those new challenges by refining or transforming pre-existing policies and institutions as well as by crafting new policy tools to address specific needs or interests. This thesis investigates the roots of such policy diversity within countries, offering in-depth accounts of the evolution of Quebec’s and Scotland’s policy strategies in the sector of development capital and sub-sector of venture capital since 1990. As compared to other regions’ or provinces’ in the United Kingdom (such as South East England) or Canada (such as Ontario), Quebec and Scottish regional venture capital ecosystems rely on a high degree of state intervention, either direct (through public investment funds) or indirect (through government-backed, hybrid or tax-advantaged funds). Hence the description of these two regions as “sponsor states,” heavily involved in the strategic backing of innovative businesses. Whereas most of the literature on venture capital has focused on economic variables to explain variations in such public sector involvement across polities however, this thesis seeks to explain policy divergence in Quebec and Scotland through a political and ideological lens. Its main argument is that the development of the venture capital ecosystems in these regions was underpinned by Québécois and Scottish nationalisms, which induced perceived imperatives and ideological preferences for policy autonomy, policy divergence, and state intervention. / Thesis / Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) / This thesis investigates the impacts of political ideas on economic policymaking. More specifically, it is a study into the effects of Québécois and Scottish nationalisms on regional policies in the sector of corporate finance, and subsector of venture capital. The question it was devised to answer is as follows: why is it that Quebec and Scotland developed particularly dynamic regional venture capital ecosystems, in which the state (through public investment funds) or state-backed investors (such as hybrid or tax-advantaged funds) play a leading role as compared with other Canadian or British regions? Through an in-depth process-tracing effort aimed at the uncovering of rationales underpinning major policy initiatives in this sector since 1990 and beyond, this thesis shows that minority nationalism contributed to the development of such ecosystems in key ways, notably by inducing perceived imperatives and preferences for policy autonomy, policy asymmetry, and state intervention.