WHO FUNDS TECHNOLOGY-BASED SMALL FIRMS? EVIDENCE FROM BELGIUMA. Bozkaya and Bruno van Pottelsberghe de la Potterie Economics of Innovation and New Technology, 2008, vol. 17, issue 1-2, pages 97-122 Abstract: Using an original survey sample of 103 unquoted Belgian technology-based small firms (TBSFs), we examine the capital structure of start-up companies during their consecutive development stages. We find that internal funds, either alone as personal savings or in combination with family and friends, to be the primary source of financing. Personal funds of the founders are used to finance the start of 82% of TBSFs. Commercial bank and government funds are the most important sources of external finance for TBSFs subsequent to start-up. Most founders agreed that business angels and venture capitalists play a greater role at later stages. However, once granted, more substantial amounts of funding come from venture capitalists. There is also evidence that suggests a change in the mix of internal and external sources of finance. Finally, our findings based on founders' scores in raising external funds suggest a call for urgent policy action to improve access to and availability of early-stage entrepreneurial finance in Belgium. We discuss our findings in light of the capital structure of small firms relating to TBSFs. Keywords: Venture capital; Technology-based firms; Ownership structure (search for similar items in EconPapers) Downloads: (external link) Related works: Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text Persistent link: http://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:taf:ecinnt:v:17:y:2008:i:1-2:p:97-122 Ordering information: This journal article can be ordered from Access Statistics for this article More articles in Economics of Innovation and New Technology from Taylor and Francis Journals |
Is your work missing from RePEc? Here is how to contribute.
Questions or problems? Check the EconPapers FAQ or send mail to .
EconPapers is hosted by the
Swedish Business School at Örebro University.