Sources of funds and investment activities of venture capital funds: evidence from Germany, Israel, Japan and the United Kingdom

We compare the investment activities and sources of finance of venture capital (VC) funds in Germany, Israel, Japan and the United Kingdom. VC investments differ across countries in terms of their stage, sector and geographical focus. Sources of VC funds also differ across countries; for example, banks are particularly important in Germany and Japan, corporations in Israel, and pension funds in the United Kingdom. Although the differences in investments are related to funding sources--for example, bank and pension fund-backed VCs invest in later stage activities than individual and corporate backed funds--a large proportion of variation within as well as between countries is unrelated to sources of finance. Moreover, differences in the relation between funding source and VC activity are unrelated to the country's financial systems. We conclude that neither financial systems nor sources of finance are the main explanations for the pronounced differences in VC activities

Sources of Funds and Investment Activities of Venture Capital Funds: Evidence from Germany, Israel, Japan and the UK

Using a newly constructed data set, we compare sources of funds and investment activities of venture capital (VC) funds in Germany, Israel, Japan and the UK. Sources of VC funds differ significantly across countries, eg banks are particularly important in Germany, corporations in Israel, insurance companies in Japan and pension funds in the UK. VC investment patterns also differ across countries in terms of the stage, sector of financed companies and geographical focus of investments. We find that these differences in investment patterns are related to the variations in funding sources - for example, bank and pension fund backed VC firms invest in later stage activities than individual and corporate backed funds - and we examine various theories concerning the relation between finance and activities. We also report that the relations differ across countries; for example, bank backed VC firms in Germany and Japan are as involved in early stage finance as other funds in these countries, whereas they tend to invest in relatively late stage finance in Israel and the UK. We consider the implication of this for the influence of financial systems on relations between finance and activities

Sources of Funds and Investment Actvities of Venture Capital Funds: Evidence from Germany, Israel, Japan and the UK

We compare the investment activities and sources of finance of venture capital (VC) funds in Germany, Israel, Japan and the United Kingdom. VC investments differ across countries in terms of their stage, sector and geographical focus. Sources of VC funds also differ across countries; for example, banks are particularly important in Germany and Japan, corporations in Israel, and pension funds in the United Kingdom. Although the differences in investments are related to funding sources—for example, bank and pension fund-backed VCs invest in later stage activities than individual and corporate backed funds—a large proportion of variation within as well as between countries is unrelated to sources of finance. Moreover, differences in the relation between funding source and VC activity are unrelated to the country's financial systems. We conclude that neither financial systems nor sources of finance are the main explanations for the pronounced differences in VC activities

Sources of funds and investment strategies of venture capital funds: evidence from Germany, Israel, Japan and the UK

Using a newly constructed data set, we compare sources of funds and investment strategies of venture capital (VC) funds in Germany, Israel, Japan and the UK. Sources of VC funds differ significantly across countries, e.g. banks are particularly important in Germany, corporations in Israel, insurance companies in Japan, and pension funds in the UK. VC investment patterns also differ across countries in terms of the stage and sector of financed companies, as well as in the geographical focus of investments, and these differences are significantly related to the variations in funding sources. However, the influence of particular classes of institutions differs across countries. For example, bank backed VC firms in Germany and Japan are as involved in early stage finance as other funds in these countries, whereas in Israel and the UK they tend to invest in relatively late stage finance. While these financial institutional factors account for some of the differences in investment patterns across countries, other considerations (such as supply of entrepreneurs) are of greater significance

Sources of Funds and Investment Activities of Venture Capital Funds: Evidence from Germany, Israel, Japan and the United Kingdom.

We compare the investment activities and sources of finance of venture capital (VC) funds in Germany, Israel, Japan and the United Kingdom. VC investments differ across countries in terms of their stage, sector and geographical focus. Sources of VC funds also differ across countries; for example, banks are particularly important in Germany and Japan, corporations in Israel, and pension funds in the United Kingdom. Although the differences in investments are related to funding sources--for example, bank and pension fund-backed VCs invest in later stage activities than individual and corporate backed funds--a large proportion of variation within as well as between countries is unrelated to sources of finance. Moreover, differences in the relation between funding source and VC activity are unrelated to the country's financial systems. We conclude that neither financial systems nor sources of finance are the main explanations for the pronounced differences in VC activities