Venture capital firms are collaborative and location specific actors. A significant source of specialised factor inputs (knowledge, expertise, resources, and finance) for investing in new high tech companies are large corporations, making them potentially complementary partners for independent venture capital firms in collaborations from which considerable value adding capacity might be derived. Employing a qualitative approach based on in-depth interviews with 30 London based technology oriented venture capital firm, this study (1) captures and explains the how, why, and under what circumstances do venture capital firms collaborate with large corporations and their corporate venturing divisions, and (2) the role that geographic proximity plays in facilitating this collaboration. Using a cross sector comparison, the core of the research inquires as to the structures employed, and the motivations and conditions for which this collaborative activity is pursued. In addition, it assesses the facilitating role that geographic proximity, and the opportunities and capacities of the London metropolitan region might play. The findings demonstrate that collaboration between venture capital firms and large corporations is increasingly common, but more formal collaborative structures are the exception. Driving this collaboration is the exchange of complementary knowledge for purposes of better investment selection and for improving options for investment exit. Geographic proximity plays a facilitating role and is particularly important during the investment selection phase. While the significance of co-location is somewhat downplayed, collaboration is indirectly facilitated through the innovation capacities and the opportunities for network interaction and international knowledge exchange which the London metropolitan region offers.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:bl.uk/oai:ethos.bl.uk:587466 |
| Date | January 2013 |
| Creators | Watkins, Andrew |
| Publisher | London School of Economics and Political Science (University of London) |
| Source Sets | Ethos UK |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Electronic Thesis or Dissertation |
| Source | http://etheses.lse.ac.uk/763/ |
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