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

Entrepreneurial Teams, Gender, and New Venture Survival : Contexts and Institutions

The link between new venture survival and the presence of founding teams is investigated, in particular the effect of the gender composition of teams. Furthermore, we study venture survival, gender, and institutional change. A unique longitudinal database is employed, covering a large number of Swedish ventures established during 6 specific years, 1930-2005. These data capture the initial gender diversity of start-ups. The contextualization of entrepreneurship involves situational and temporal boundaries, and we elaborate on contextual factors at different levels of analysis. Our results show that ventures founded by teams have a higher probability of surviving, but show no overall team gender homogeneity/heterogeneity effect. However, we find some support for the fact that ventures founded by all-female teams have lower survival chances. Nevertheless, the clearest negative effect is found for female solo start-ups. Furthermore, our results support the fact that institutional transformation may gradually have increased the likelihood of ventures founded by females to survive. Entrepreneurship, Innovation, and the Demography of Firms and Industries in Sweden over Two Centurie