Emerging trends in government venture capital policies in smaller peripheral economies: lessons from Finland, New Zealand, and Estonia

Emerging trends from the developing venture capital industries of three smaller peripheral economies (Finland, New Zealand, and Estonia), demonstrate that government policy can overcome scale and distance barriers to assist in establishing venture capital to support innovative potential high growth ventures. Eight common policy themes for successful venture capital development are: new venture stimulation; dedicated finance policy institutions; stable, internationally harmonized tax and regulations; business angel development; inward investment; international venture capital fund development; smooth pipeline of investment; effective investment exit market. Venture capital policy development themes are interconnected, requiring a holistic ecosystem approach. A blueprint for successful small peripheral economy venture capital development requires an initial phase of new venture demand stimulation and ensuing simultaneity of policies to engineer venture capital development

The role of government co-investment funds in the supply of entrepreneurial finance: An assessment of the early operation of the UK Angel Co-investment Fund

Co-investment funds – which invest alongside private investors, especially business angels – thereby leveraging their networks and experience and minimizing public sector transaction costs – are a recent approach by governments in various countries to address the early stage entrepreneurial funding gap which is perceived as a barrier to the ability of firms to scale-up. However, little literature exists on their operation, impact and effectiveness. This paper assesses the early operation of the UK’s Angel Co-investment Fund, established in 2011. Interview evidence from angels and business managers suggests that the Angel Co-investment Fund is improving the availability of finance by enabling firms to raise funding rounds of between £500,000 and £2 m, hence addressing some aspects of the broken finance escalator model. However, our evidence suggests that it is not yet impacting the supply side, either in terms of stimulating the formation of new angel groups or enhancing learning amongst less experienced angels. Some aspects of the operation of the investment process have attracted criticism from angels and entrepreneurs which need to be addressed. Nevertheless, there is sufficient evidence for positive impact to justify the scheme’s expansion

Establishing a new UK finance escalator for innovative SMEs: the roles of the Enterprise Capital Funds and Angel Co-investment Fund

This paper examines UK public policy addressing the seed and early stage equity finance gap since the Global Financial Crisis (GFC). Drawing on lessons learned from recent studies of UK and international government equity schemes, two contemporary models of government backed equity finance are examined. The focus is on the Enterprise Capital Funds (ECFs) and the Angel Co-investment Fund (ACF), the UK government’s main schemes operating in the sub-£2m equity finance gap to address the capital requirements for developing the UK’s young, potential high growth businesses. The paper highlights the shortcomings of traditional interim fund performance analysis and presents current demand and supply side evidence that establishes that these schemes are making attributable impacts on their portfolio businesses and the wider UK economy. It also demonstrates that they are playing important roles in the establishment of a new post GFC UK finance escalator. However, whilst these schemes were found to be currently complementary and effective, their future roles within the UK’s evolving post GFC seed and early stage equity markets are also considered. Key Words: Government Equity Schemes, Venture Capital, Potential High Growth SME

Beach ridge geomorphology of Kotzebue Sound: Implications for paleoclimatology and archaeology

Thesis (Ph.D.) University of Alaska Fairbanks, 1990Beach ridges occur on all continents and record the horizontal addition of shoreface beyond the reach of storms. Improved cartographic methods in the nineteenth century allowed British historians to link shoreline changes with abandoned villages. This scientific trajectory was paralleled in the Bering Strait region from the 1880's to the 1930's. In the 1950's J. L. Giddings formalized "beach ridge archaeology" as a survey strategem using relative position to infer relative cultural chronology in northwest Alaska. Modern researchers use archaeological dates and data to document past climates or environments. At Cape Espenberg, on Seward Peninsula, my use of archaeological, stratigraphic, pedological, granulometric and photogrammetric data allows the delineation of 4000 years of coastal evolution. Four chronostratigraphic units are distinguished, using archaeological dates as minimum age assignments. Dune ridges formed in discrete intervals: 3300 to 2000 BP and from 1200 BP to the present; while low, berm ridges are predominant 4000-3300 and from 2000-1200 BP. The two different types of ridges correspond to variable climatic conditions: dune ridges formed after higher storm surges and winter winds while the lower berm ridges are related to less intense storm surges. Coastal dunes at Cape Espenberg are soon altered by plant succession processes with distance from the beach. As primary dunes are eroded, a complex blowout topography results. Erosional processes in blowouts were monitored during 1987-1989, revealing substantial vertical changes, up to 10 cm of erosion per yr. These rapid changes have considerable influence on archaeological site stability. Studies of the gravel ridge systems confirm the proxy storm record apparent in the coastal dunes atop the beach ridges on the Seward Peninsula. The geoarchaeological methodology allows correlations between depositional units within nine of the principal beach ridge and chenier complexes of northwest Alaska. The onset of deposition was at 4000-3500 BP. The complexes at Cape Espenberg and Choris Peninsula contain elevated, broader transgressive ridge sets 3300-2000 BP and from 1100-200 BP, connected with increased storm activity in the North Pacific. Erosional disconformities between successive sets of beach ridges occur at Cape Krusenstern at ca. 3000 BP and before 2000 BP. Between 2000-1000 BP extensive progradation occurred at nearly all complexes, indicating that less stormy conditions predominated

POPULATION GENETIC STRUCTURE OF \u3cem\u3eNECTURUS MACULOSUS\u3c/em\u3e IN CENTRAL AND EASTERN KENTUCKY

Population structure is influenced by extrinsic factors, such as landscape architecture and dispersal barriers. Lotic network architecture is known to constrain ecological, demographic and evolutionary processes, including population genetic structure. I assessed the population structure of a widespread aquatic salamander, Necturus maculosus, across three river basins in central and eastern Kentucky. I examined the role of network architecture, anthropogenic barriers, and spatial scale on patterns of population structure. I also provided a review of N. maculosus capture methods and offer an improved trap design. I identified significant structuring between the combined Licking/Kinniconick basin and the Kentucky River basin, with further structure within each basin. I found evidence for both hierarchically organized populations structure (e.g. Stream Hierarchy Model), as well as population structure unaffected by network hierarchy (e.g. Death Valley Model). These results highlight the importance of scale when examining population structure. Whereas one model may suffice to explain population structure at a local scale, a second model may be necessary to accurately describe the population structure across larger spatial scales. These results suggest that local factors affect population structure uniquely across a species’ range, and support a multi-model approach for assessing population structure

Influence of slow oscillation on hippocampal activity and ripples through cortico-hippocampal synaptic interactions, analyzed by a cortical-CA3-CA1 network model

Hippocampal sharp wave-ripple complexes (SWRs) involve the synchronous discharge of thousands of cells throughout the CA3-CA1-subiculum-entorhinal cortex axis. Their strong transient output affects cortical targets, rendering SWRs a possible means for memory transfer from the hippocampus to the neocortex for long-term storage. Neurophysiological observations of hippocampal activity modulation by the cortical slow oscillation (SO) during deep sleep and anesthesia, and correlations between ripples and UP states, support the role of SWRs in memory consolidation through a cortico-hippocampal feedback loop. We couple a cortical network exhibiting SO with a hippocampal CA3-CA1 computational network model exhibiting SWRs, in order to model such cortico-hippocampal correlations and uncover important parameters and coupling mechanisms controlling them. The cortical oscillatory output entrains the CA3 network via connections representing the mossy fiber input, and the CA1 network via the temporoammonic pathway (TA). The spiking activity in CA3 and CA1 is shown to depend on the excitation-to-inhibition ratio, induced by combining the two hippocampal inputs, with mossy fiber input controlling the UP-state correlation of CA3 population bursts and corresponding SWRs, whereas the temporoammonic input affects the overall CA1 spiking activity. Ripple characteristics and pyramidal spiking participation to SWRs are shaped by the strength of the Schaffer collateral drive. A set of in vivo recordings from the rat hippocampus confirms a model-predicted segregation of pyramidal cells into subgroups according to the SO state where they preferentially fire and their response to SWRs. These groups can potentially play distinct functional roles in the replay of spike sequences