Exploring the landscape of University-affiliated venture funds: an archetype approach

ABSTRACT

In the last few decades, universities have engaged in the creation of university-affiliated venture capital (UVC) funds to solve the funding gap of new ventures that emerge from academic research. Little is known about their specific characteristics and typology in terms of their role, investment rationale and governance. This study undertakes an attempt to explore the diversity of UVC funds through the lens of an archetype approach. The analysis of 11 European UVC funds suggests that similarities and differences in such issues as governance system, industry focus and the stage of a venture development are the possible elements that define three distinct archetypes of UVC funding. The study contributes to academic research by proposing a categorisation of UVC funds, and demonstrating their uniqueness in terms of institutional hybridity, and dual organisational schemes and structures. It also suggests that UVC archetypes are not isolated and tend to borrow elements from each other, which contributes to creating a more fluid and flexible entrepreneurial university ecosystem.

KEYWORDS:

• University-affiliated venture funds
• university spin-off
• entrepreneurial ecosystem
• early-stage financing
• funding gap

Acknowledgments

The authors are indebted to Jan Willems for his valuable assistance in the data collection process and are grateful to all the interviewees for their availability and kindness. The authors express their deepest gratitude to the three anonymous reviewers for their input and comments, as well as the four guest editors of this special issue, Dolors Gil-Domenech, Jasmina Berbegal-Mirabent, Yannis Pierrakis and Massimo Colombo, for the organisation of the Paper Development Workshop that was indispensable in the development of this study.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.