Human capital and the internationalization of venture capital firms
Sophie Manigart,
V. Collewaert,
Mike Wright,
S. Pruthi,
A. Lockett,
H. Bruining,
U. Hommel and
H. Landstrom Additional contact information H. Landstrom: Vlerick Leuven Gent Management School
Abstract:
We examine the neglected area of internationalisation by VCs. Using a representative sample of 195 VCs, we show that the decision of a European VC firm to invest internationally is driven by its human resources. Having more VC executives in general and more VC executives with previous international experience in specific, results in a higher probability of investing internationally. In contrast, more VC executives with experience in the VC industry or with an engineering background lead to a higher probability of remaining domestic.