Using data of first time fund in venture capital in United States from 1995 to 2015, I explore characteristics of the funds in relation to the fund performances. Three groups of characteristics that examined are fund characteristics, manager characteristics and limited partners’ characteristics. The paper also incorporates the time effects to show if market cycles have influences in these relationships. Some of the critical findings include that fund sizes have essentially zero impact on the fund return. In manager characteristics, it is very helpful to have a lead manager with MBA or equivalent degree. For limited partners, it is useful to have school endowments as limited partners which could influence the funds’ return positively. Both general partners and limited partners could learn from this paper and be more mindful of certain factor when investing in first time fund.

This paper explores the differences between the success of a start-up depending on support from venture capital or not. This kind of research has not been done in a Swedish context in which time to IPO was used as a measure of success for the start-up. The secondary data was collected from two stock markets representing start-ups/entrepreneurial firms, First north and Aktietorget. The sample includes 211 different start-ups with their founding years no earlier than 1999 and their IPO ranging between 2011 and 2016. A regression analysis, one-way ANOVA and t-test have been conducted for the collected data. Findings were not statistically significant and could not show any mean differences. The contributions of this study are theoretical and relate to the individual objectives of this study; 1) critically, identifying and evaluating different success factors for start-ups; 2) defining the terms venture capital and start-up; and 3) evaluating the literature on venture capital and the success of start-ups.

This thesis deals with venture capital financing and its impact on financial results of Czech enterprises. The first chapter is focused on basic theory in the field of private equity and venture capital, selected financial indicators are described and finally state-of-the-art of venture capital financing of Czech enterprises is depicted. Analytical part is devoted to introducing and individual financial analysis of chosen venture capital backed companies. The economic situation of the companies is evaluated before, during and after the coexistence between the venture capitalist and the company. Based on the financial results proposals of appropriate use of venture capital, which could lead to the development of this form of financing, are given.

Abstract The purpose of this study is to explore the role of relational capital in raising and utilizing venture capital by international new ventures (INVs). This study reviews literature on INVs, venture capital, and social capital theory and defines relational capital as the level of trust developed in the course of interactions between INVs and venture capital firms (VC firms) that leads to positive venture capital decisions and value creation. This empirical study of relational capital formation and utilization is accomplished by the case study method. The study is based on interviews with five case INVs regarding entrepreneurs’ and venture capitalists (VCs)’ experiences with forming and utilizing relational capital for the purpose of new venture internationalization. This study approaches the relationship between INV and VC firm from the relational capital perspective, exploring how INVs can raise venture capital for internationalization as well as how they can use relational capital to improve outcomes of new venture internationalization after venture capital is allocated. The analysis identifies the factors that affect formation of relational capital between INVs and VC firms, the outcomes that result from relational capital formed in the pre-investment stage, and the impact on performance of INVs during post-investment collaboration. This study develops a conceptual model proposing that the financing process for entrepreneurial INVs consists of forming and using relational capital to obtain venture capital investment. The particular characteristics of the INVs and VC firms, as well as behavior-related factors, have been found to be important to forming relational capital between INVs and VC firms. The relational capital formation process creates an atmosphere in which entrepreneurs and VCs provide both tangible and intangible resources to support INV internationalization. This study adds the relational capital viewpoint to the literature pertaining to venture capital and INVs by analyzing the role of relational capital in financing entrepreneurial INVs. Regarding managerial implications, the study shows how entrepreneurs can influence the venture capital investment process, where VC firms should pay attention to while working with INVs, and how policy makers could contribute by providing a positive environment for INV and VC firm collaboration. / Tiivistelmä Tässä tutkimuksessa tarkastellaan kansainvälisiin uusiin yrityksiin tehtyjä pääomasijoitusprosesseja suhdepääoman muotoutumisen ja hyödyntämisen näkökulmasta. Tutkimuksessa aihetta lähestytään sekä yritysten että pääomasijoittajien kannalta ja työn teoreettinen viitekehys rakennetaan kansainvälisten uusien yritysten, pääomasijoitusprosessin, ja sosiaalisen pääoman tutkimusjulkaisujen kautta. Työssä suhdepääoma määritellään luottamukseksi, joka kehittyy vuorovaikutuksen kautta yrityksen ja pääomasijoittajan välille ja johtaa positiiviseen pääomasijoituspäätökseen ja arvonluontiin. Työn empiirisessä osassa suhdepääoman muotoutumista ja hyödyntämistä tutkitaan tapaustutkimusmenetelmällä. Tutkimuksen aineisto on kerätty haastattelemalla viiden kansainvälisen nuoren yrityksen yrittäjiä sekä pääomasijoittajia heidän kokemuksistaan yrityksen kansainvälisen kasvun rahoittamiseksi. Työssä yritysten ja pääomasijoittajien suhdetta lähestytään suhdepääoman kautta, erityisesti kun yritysten tavoitteena on saada pääomasijoitus kansainvälistä kasvua varten ja hyödyntää syntynyttä suhdepääomaa pääomasijoituksen jälkeen yrityksen kansainvälistymisprosessissa. Analyysissä tunnistetaan tekijät, jotka vaikuttavat suhdepääoman kehittymiseen, tulokset, jotka ovat seurausta ennen pääomasijoitusta syntyneestä suhdepääomasta, sekä vaikutukset, jotka yrityksen ja pääomasijoittajan välisellä suhdepääomalla on yrityksen menestymiseen pääomasijoituksen jälkeen. Tutkimuksessa yrityksen ja pääomasijoittajan erityisillä piirteillä, toimintamalleilla ja käyttäytymisellä havaittiin olevan merkitystä suhdepääoman muotoutumisessa ja hyödyntämisessä. Suhdepääoman muotoutumisprosessi luo ilmapiirin, jossa yrittäjät ja pääomasijoittajat voivat tuoda aineellisia ja aineettomia resursseja yrityksen kansainvälistymisen tueksi. Työn teoreettinen kontribuutio on erityisesti sen tuoma suhdenäkökulma pääomasijoitusprosessitutkimukseen. Työssä osoitetaan myös kuinka yrittäjät voivat käytännössä vaikuttaa pääomasijoituksen saamiseen ja päätöksentekoprosessiin ja mihin pääomasijoittajien tulisi kiinnittää huomiota yritysten kanssa työskennellessään.

This study examines the extent to which principal-principal agency conflicts within venture capital (VC) syndicates lead to additional principal-agent conflicts in IPO firms in two institutional contexts. Using a matched sample of 274 VC-backed IPOs in the US and the UK, it shows that the diversity of a VC syndicate increases pre-IPO discretionary current accruals, used as a proxy for earnings management, but the impact of such diversity is higher in the US. There is also evidence of higher underpricing and lower aftermarket performance in firms with higher earnings management and VC diversity, and these negative performance effects are also higher in the US. Our findings indicate that local and informal institutions have a significant effect on multiple agency conflicts in IPO firms and performance outcomes.

Entrepreneurship is the process of transforming an idea into a tangible product or service that can be traded. High-growth entrepreneurial firms contribute a disproportionate share of all new jobs created by new firms. Past research has shown that a significant percentage of the population in a society is employed in entrepreneurial firms and small businesses. Entrepreneurship drives economic growth by stimulating innovation, by commercializing new technologies, by intensifying competition and by generating employment. Typically seven out of ten new employer firms last at least two years, and about half survive five years. One critical area of study is investigating the factors that contribute to the success of a new venture. Social capital and social networks are two such important determinants of entrepreneurial success. Social Capital is the sum of the actual and potential resources embedded within, available through, and derived from the network of relationships possessed by an individual or social unit (Nahapiet and Ghoshal,1998).This study investigates the relationship between the social capital of the firm , its key founders and new venture performance. The independent variables are Social Capital of the firm with its associates, Social Capital of the firm with its customers, Social Capital of the founder in entrepreneurial networks, Social Capital of the founder with his/her alumni networks and Social Capital of the founder with his/her ex-colleagues. These relationships are studied under the framework of ties, trust, obligation and expectations, identification, shared language and shared values. New Venture Performance has been measured using both perceptual measures and financial measures. The perceptual measures used are Employee and Customer Retention & Founders Satisfaction with the venture’s performance. The financial measure used is Revenue normalized by the age of the firm. Data was collected through a questionnaire survey and administered to key founders of 28 software startups in Bangalore. The age of these startups ranged from 1 to 6 years. The results of correlation analysis, T-tests and Mann Whitney tests revealed that only Social Capital of the firm with its business associates and Social Capital of the founder with his/her ex-colleagues are significantly correlated with the new venture performance measured as Employee and Customer Retention. Any network is as good as the people belonging to it. Social networks will be significantly beneficial for entrepreneurial success to the extent of the ability and the willingness of the members in the network to help each other.

Foreign investors are making larger investments in the Canadian venture capital (VC) market than Canadian investors, and Canadian VC exits are primarily M&As (Canada’s Venture Capital and Private Equity Association, various years). This research provides a joint exploration of foreign venture capitalists’ (VCs) participation in Canada and outcomes of VC exits. Using binary logistic regression and multivariate linear regression, this paper reports that the presence of foreign VCs in the Canadian market is accompanied with mixed exit-related outcomes. On the one hand, foreign VCs’ participation is associated with higher likelihood of a successful exit through initial public offering (IPO), greater capital availability, and shorter time to exit. On the other hand, the relation between foreign VCs’ participation and lower purchaser price per dollar of VC investment in exit through merger and acquisition (M&A) raises concerns about the monetary returns to Canadian investee firms and Canadian syndicate VCs. These empirical findings will help to facilitate a more comprehensive understanding of the Canadian VC market, as well as adding to the growing body of literature on cross- border VC investment.

Private equity and venture capital in Europe.

The aim of this master thesis is the analysis of the possible forms of funding business in the Czech Republic with a focus on non-bank sector - performance of these types, their advantages and disadvantages, and implementation analysis of the choice of sources of funding the project Rapol. The work is divided into four chapters. The first chapter deals with the theoretical performance forms of financing business in the Czech Republic divided into internal (net cash flow, reserves) and external sources of funding (Issuance of shares, EU structural funds, venture capital, Business Angels, government grants, leases, bonds, trade credit, factoring, forfeiting, quiet community). The second chapter is devoted to the characteristics of firms Rapol s.r.o. and RBB Invest a.s. and the third chapter the characteristics of the project Rapol. Last, the fourth chapter, represents the analysis of the choice of sources of funding the project Rapol.

Diplomová práce se zabývá tématem rizikového a rozvojového kapitálu se zaměřením na legislativně-regulatorní opatření vedoucí k podpoře jeho rozvoje a shrnuje současný stav tohoto odvětví v České republice. Cílem diplomové práce je analyzovat podmínky pro soukromé investory a pokusit se charakterizovat na základě dosavadních zkušeností z České republiky i z jiných zemí klíčové faktory ovlivňující objem investic rizikového a rozvojového kapitálu.