Seed Funding for Innovative Ventures

Abstract

This paper focuses on public innovation support for ventures in their early stages of development. Based on quantitative analysis of programme-specific data, the authors explore and discuss what mechanisms have influenced a public sector actor in selecting ideas for funding. The main findings show, first, that the ‘legal form of the firm’ and the ‘type of industry’ are the main factors that discriminate among firms that have gained public financial support and, second, that explicit and tacit selection criteria affect the process that determines which ideas are to receive support.