Differences in the Screening Criteria between US and Continental European VC Investors

Joern Block (), Walter Diegel (), Christian Fisch () and Alexandra Moritz ()
Additional contact information
Joern Block: Trier University
Walter Diegel: Trier University
Christian Fisch: University of Luxembourg (SnT)
Alexandra Moritz: Koblenz University of Applied Sciences

A chapter in Management of SMEs and Startups, 2026, pp 255-282 from Springer

Abstract: Abstract Research on venture capital (VC) decision-making has largely concentrated on investors within single countries or regions, with few comparative studies exploring differences in screening criteria across countries. This study fills this gap by examining how VC investors in the US and Europe prioritize key investment criteria, particularly revenue growth and international scalability. Employing a multimethod approach, we first conducted interviews with 19 VC experts to identify seven critical screening criteria. These criteria were then evaluated in a choice-based conjoint experiment involving 430 participants. Our findings highlight differences in investment priorities. US investors place significantly greater emphasis on high revenue growth rates while European investors prioritize international scalability. To further explore and interpret these differences, we conducted follow-up discussions with 11 VC investors from both regions. European investors stress that startups must be internationally scalable from an early stage. In contrast, US investors prioritize rapid revenue growth as a key indicator of market traction and investment potential. Additionally, European VCs adopt a more conservative investment approach while US VCs often embrace a higher-risk, high-reward strategy. Understanding the differences in investment preferences and criteria can help entrepreneurs tailor their strategies to better align with the expectations of US and European investors.

Keywords: Venture capital; Decision-making; Europe versus US; Screening criteria; Conjoint; Multimethod (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2026
References: Add references at CitEc
Citations:

There are no downloads for this item, see the EconPapers FAQ for hints about obtaining it.

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:spr:fgfchp:978-3-032-17538-0_11

Ordering information: This item can be ordered from
http://www.springer.com/9783032175380

DOI: 10.1007/978-3-032-17538-0_11

Access Statistics for this chapter

More chapters in FGF Studies in Small Business and Entrepreneurship from Springer
Bibliographic data for series maintained by Sonal Shukla () and Springer Nature Abstracting and Indexing ().