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Answering the call for more process-oriented research into the inception and development of companies, this paper analyses the funding acquisition process of nascent ventures. Based on optimal matching techniques combined with multinomial logistic regression, we identify how the most typical funding acquisition processes of nascent ventures evolve and identify in which circumstances ventures pursue the respective processes. First, and in line with pecking-order theory (POT), we find a standard pattern of founder self-funding. Second, we theorize under which initial conditions, and how, ventures deviate from the path that is set out by POT. The degree of innovativeness and complexity of the venture’s offering determine which funding sequence is chosen. With this study we, first, show the importance of initial venture characteristics and strategy for the further resource acquisition and corresponding venture development process and, second, introduce the optimal matching technique to the realm of the entrepreneurship literature.

We analyze the potential of the European Union (EU) Taxonomy (ET) for Sustainable Activities to mobilize investments for the sustainability transition toward urban nature-based solutions (UNBS). We map the current investment landscape of UNBS in Europe and combine this mapping with document analysis of UNBS inclusion in the ET to understand how the ET might help overcome the well-documented barriers to UNBS finance. We suggest that the ET has a legitimizing effect on UNBS as climate investments, which can support their uptake, but also conclude that only some UNBS subtypes are explicitly included when they fit with existing investment classes. In particular, the ET (1) disregards innovative - and specifically urban - UNBS types and (2) fails to provide incentives for investments that can deliver multiple sustainable objectives, which would enhance the investment case for UNBS. Since the current investment landscape of UNBS is characterized by a strong presence of public actors and a high incidence of co-financing, we recommend that public actors leverage the ET to obtain private funding for UNBS via (green) bond issuance and public-private co-finance instruments. Our analysis indicates that the ability of the ET to upscale investments for specific sustainability transitions depends on the interplay among their current investment landscapes, specific financing barriers, and explicit inclusion in the ET.

This study analyses the relationship between geographic space, social networks, and financial knowledge in interregional equity crowdfunding flows based on the concept of financial ecology. Using data from a leading Dutch equity crowdfunding platform, we find that interregional crowdfunding investment decreases with geographic distance. Furthermore, the negative effect of distance is weaker if interregional social networks are strong and if the investor region has a high concentration of the financial industry. The results extend the conceptual foundation of financial ecology by explaining how individual behaviors affect the macro-level output of a financial ecology.

Answering the call for more process-oriented research into the inception and development of companies, this paper analyses the funding acquisition process of nascent ventures. Based on optimal matching techniques combined with multinomial logistic regression, we identify how the most typical funding acquisition processes of nascent ventures evolve and identify in which circumstances ventures pursue the respective processes. First, and in line with pecking-order theory (POT), we find a standard pattern of founder self-funding. Second, we theorize under which initial conditions, and how, ventures deviate from the path that is set out by POT. The degree of innovativeness and complexity of the venture’s offering determine which funding sequence is chosen. With this study we, first, show the importance of initial venture characteristics and strategy for the further resource acquisition and corresponding venture development process and, second, introduce the optimal matching technique to the realm of the entrepreneurship literature.

This deliverable provides a handbook for the implementation of a Smart Cities User Innovation and Business Incubation Program we have developed and implemented in Utrecht, Nice and Gothenburg. The program we present is tried, tested and lessons have been drawn from experience in the three LH-cities. The handbook is ready to implement in the follower cities.

Hoe ziet een duurzame Europese economie eruit? En hoe gaan we de transitie ernaartoe financieren? De afgelopen vier jaar hebben elf universiteiten, waaronder de Utrecht School of Economics (U.S.E.), ETH Zurich en het Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research (PIK) deze vraag onderzocht. Voor het Europese onderzoeksproject INNOPATHS (INNOvation PATHwayS) zijn scenario’s gemaakt voor de energietransitie van de Europese economie tot en met 2050. SFL-associate Friedemann Polzin heeft het financieringswerk geleid en voerde dit uit in samenwerking met onder meer SFL-hoogleraar Mark Sanders. Het INNOPATHS-team heeft zowel de vraag als het aanbod van financiering en voor de energietransitie in kaart gebracht: hoeveel van welke soort financiering (van durfinvesteerders tot verzekeraars) is nodig voor de energietransitie en hoeveel is beschikbaar? Ook zijn de financieringskosten in kaart gebracht. Over de historische ontwikkeling van de financieringskosten zijn meer dan 40 interviews afgenomen met financiers en energieproducenten in Duitsland, Zwitserland, Italië, het Verenigd Koninkrijk, Frankrijk, Nederland, Luxemburg en Noorwegen. Ook zijn meer dan 50 interviews gehouden over de rol van staatsinvesteringsbanken in Duitsland, het Verenigd Koninkrijk en Australië. Deze SFL-beleidsnotitie vertaalt de relevante bevindingen naar de Nederlandse praktijk. Er wordt niet zozeer gekeken naar de door de overheid gestelde randvoorwaarden, zoals een CO2-heffing, maar primair naar de financiële sector zelf. Hoe is die georganiseerd? En hoe kan dat anders om de energietransitie te versnellen? Dan blijkt dat ook de financiële sector meer kan doen.