IT Startups Research Articles

Investment strategies in terms of global competitiveness

The article examines the concept of investment strategies in the conditions of global competitiveness and defines their types. The main forms of psychotypes of investors are highlighted. The behavior of investors during 2014–2022 and the Kearney Foreign Direct Investment Confidence Index 2022 were analyzed. It is emphasized that the war between Russia and Ukraine did not greatly affect the behavior of investors, who are still relatively optimistic about the prospects of Europe and Eurasia. In the financial world, a wide range of factors affect the prices of certain assetsSince the trend of deglobalization is accelerating, against the background of the coronavirus and the escalation of trade conflicts, it is impossible to bypass macro factors when analyzing and choosing a company for investment. Each company conducts business in a certain industry and its development depends on the macroclimate in the country and the world in general. Indicators such as the level of interest rates, inflation, employment, unemployment, etc. are taken into account to determine investment directions. The global pandemic of covid-19 has caused significant human and economic losses. The global economy contracted in 2020. However, if we analyze the investment activity, the years 2021 and 2022 were quite active. If you compare the total value of the global stock market in 2020 and before the covid-19 pandemic, it is almost unchanged. The reason for this may be the following factors: a gradual increase in the production of goods and services, an increase in the employment rate of the population, significant progress in the creation of a vaccine against covid-19, etc. The recovery of the world's economies is accelerating and does not foresee a further decline. Therefore, creating new opportunities for business strategies will require a comprehensive solution to both old and new problems. The recovery can and should be used to invest in sustainable companies and infrastructure. Increasing exports, integration into global value-added chains, setting up the production of environmentally friendly products and promoting IT startups will create opportunities for economic development. The main advantages and disadvantages of investment strategies are substantiated.

P134: THE AREAL PROJECT: A VIRTUAL REALITY APPLICATION TO SUPPORT THE THERAPEUTIC EXPERIENCE AND THERAPY EDUCATION OF ADULT PATIENTS WITH THALASSEMIA AND SICKLE CELL DISEASE

Background: The chronic transfusion regimen consists of procedures that take time and that significantly impact the quality of life of patients with thalassemia or sickle cell disease; sometimes these procedures are carried out in uncomfortable environments where the patient tries with his own means to get distracted or “estranged”. Therefore, the need to pay attention not only to the strictly physical needs but also to the psychological, emotional and social needs of patients emerges with the aim of recovering valuable time “monopolized” by therapy by enriching the therapeutic path with activities capable of involving more the person. Aims: From this need and the opportunities offered by the digital technologies available today, the AREAL project was born, developed by the Italian startup Softcare Studios in partnership with the pharma company Novartis. AREAL consists of a gaming experience enjoyed in virtual reality thanks to the use of suitable VR viewers, designed in collaboration with medical staff to enhance the time spent in the hospital during the transfusion routine of young adult and adult patients. Methods: AREAL consists of three gaming activities developed to immerse the patient in a sensorially stimulating scenario different from the hospital one in which the user is forced to spend his time, and designed to stimulate cognitive skills (memory, reflexes, attention, auditory processing and visual, logic and association, spatial navigation), providing added value to the patient’s engagement / entertainment and compensating for the near physical immobility required during the transfusion / medical procedure (Figure 1). AREAL also integrates elements of patient education in therapy and recommended lifestyle habits to promote their well-being, and is equipped with a social functionality thanks to which patients can play together with other patients in the same hospital or between hospitals. different, laying the foundations for building a delocalized patient community. Results: AREAL is currently in use in 3 pilot hospital centers in Italy, Padova, Genova, Napoli, where, over a period of 4 months, evidence will be collected on its impact on the therapeutic experience of patients, usability will be assessed and the integration in the staff work routine will be refined. doctor, with the ultimate goal of extending the concept of “care” not only to clinical but also emotional and psychological aspects during all the time spent in the hospital.Figure 1.: Example of different scenarios of the virtual reality

Innovating in Emerging Markets By Building Meaningful it Alliances

Abstract This research examines important firm specific characteristics for the expansion of innovative IT start-ups through strategic partnerships and affiliate networks in the emerging markets of South East (S.E.) Europe. The case of a Greek IT start-up currently seeking to expand in S.E. Europe through partnerships is investigated. The case study analysis reveals that the existence of codified knowledge and the establishment of formal systems and processes enhance successful knowledge transfer in business partnerships and contribute in alliance success. Furthermore, firms should pursue partnerships with reputable firms, while working simultaneously in developing their own reputation that will enable them to more efficiently attract potential business partners. They should also seek for partners with prior collaborative experience in order to increase the development of trust in their alliances which is a critical success factor in business partnerships. In addition, firms should build a team with a diverse academic background and business experience, in order to increase the chances for successful international partnerships. This analysis further enhances the understanding of company characteristics that better position IT startups to form meaningful and successful alliances in emerging markets. Lastly, it provides useful insights on important parameters that startups need to consider and develop in order to more efficiently form strategic partnerships.

Application of Graph Theory to Entrepreneurship Research: New Findings and a New Methodology Framework

This study used Graph Theory to examine relationships within the Greek ICT start-up ecosystem, analyzing founders’ views, strategies, and current perceptions regarding their ICT start-ups. The sample consisted of more than 90 founders of Greek IT start ups who participated in exhibitions as start-up companies during 2018 and 2019 and had completed at least one accelerator program. The study analyzed the dataset of a previous research project, using Graph Theory and R as the main tools for statistical analysis, in order to re-examine relationships between the key variables. The study highlighted a set of critical relationships and facts that were not revealed in past research. The dataset was first analyzed with the use of SPSS software for Pearson correlation, but using Graph Theory revealed a different picture. A literature review was also conducted to examine the key issues of entrepreneurship and Graph Theory and their applications to success factors for start-ups. The research findings provided a more precise understanding of the dynamics of Greek ICT start-ups, as well as the importance of Graph Theory for analyzing complex phenomena and business ecosystems. The findings may be useful for entrepreneurs, as they strive to increase the success rates of current and future projects, as well as for academics, since Graph Theory reveals a new, likely more effective and accurate way of analyzing data and estimating relationships in complex environments.
 Keywords: innovation management, marketing, start-ups, founders, business models, entrepreneurship, strategy, Greek, Graph Theory

Přehled tří směrů výzkumu, jak posoudit budoucí úspěch IT start-upu v rané fázi vývoje

Přehled tří směrů výzkumu, jak posoudit budoucí úspěch IT start-upu v rané fázi vývoje

Supporting innovative entrepreneurship: an evaluation of the Italian “Start-up Act”

Abstract The role of innovative start-ups in contributing to aggregate economic dynamism has attracted increased attention in recent years. While this has translated into several public policies explicitly targeting them, there is little evidence on their effectiveness. This article provides a comprehensive evaluation of the “Start-up Act,” a policy intervention aimed at supporting innovative start-ups in Italy. We construct a unique database encompassing detailed information on firm balance sheets, employment, firm demographics, patents and bank–firm relationships for all Italian start-ups. We use conditional difference-in-differences and instrumental variable strategies to evaluate the impact of the “Start-up Act” on firm performance. Results show that the policy induces a significant increase in several firm outcomes whereas no effect is detected in patenting propensity and survival chances. We also document that the policy alleviates financial frictions characterizing innovative start-ups through the provision of tax credits for equity and a public guarantee scheme which, respectively, trigger an increase in the probability of receiving VC and accessing bank credit.

Start-ups' innovation processes and performance in the food industry: a stochastic frontier analysis

PurposeThe food industry has always been supplier dominated, characterised by low research intensity, product line extensions and me-too products. However, recent changes have led new firms operating in the food industry to invest in research and development (R&D) activities in order to introduce innovations into the market and achieve superior performance. This paper aims to verify whether these changes are noteworthy by investigating whether and which innovation-related factors (investments in R&D activities, qualified scientists/engineers and holding a patent) can affect the performance of food start-ups.Design/methodology/approachA sample of 108 innovative start-ups operating in the food industry in Italy was selected, and a stochastic frontier analysis was carried out. This methodology was chosen because of the factorisation of the error term, which is divided into a unilateral component (revealing the inefficiency of the statistical model) and a symmetric component (revealing random gaps).FindingsStatistical elaborations provide two interesting results. One concerns the error term (only random inefficiency affects results) and the other relates to innovation-related factors. Only investments in R&D activities positively affect the performance of innovative start-ups in the Italian food industry.Originality/valueResults confirm the relevance of investments in R&D activities for Italian start-ups aiming to achieve superior performance in the food industry. These results confirm relevant changes are occurring in what was a supplier-dominated industry and disclose how start-ups should master the dynamics of innovation and allow for speculation on future industry trends.

Development of a model for evaluating the effectiveness of innovative startups based on information cycles and using neural networks

An integrated approach to the creation and development of innovative startup projects in the field of information technology is considered. To conduct research, the authors proposed a model of information cycles of startup projects based on the creation of an information model of such projects. At the same time there are dynamic processes of changes in the parameters of the model, which are turbulent in nature and require the use of tools and methods of artificial intelligence for research. The key areas of knowledge of such influence are defined. The mathematical model of processes of management of development of IT startups on the basis of creation and development of a difficult IT product, taking into account influences of environments of the project is constructed, the basic characteristics are allocated and parameters are defined. To do this, the construction of predictive models is proposed to be carried out by modified Demarc trends, the method of self-organization and the neural network. The modeling of the main objective functions of the mathematical model of these processes is performed. The analysis of the received results is carried out and the conclusions are made.

Экосистема «сбер» – продукт воздействия цифровизации на межсекторную экономическую конвергенцию

The article contains the study of the experience of operation of the specific Sber financial ecosystem as a new form of entrepreneurial activity in the competitive economic environment which is driven by the impact of digitalization on the economic convergence processes – the modern trend in the social development in general. The study of the experience of the Sber financial ecosystem which is one of the most highly developed ones in Russia is both of theoretical and practical interest. The purpose of the article is to describe the actual experience of Sber ecosystem’s operation. The results of the performed analysis are as follows. Definitely the Sber ecosystem is a form of organization of joint business implemented in the framework of intersectoral convergence driven by digitalization. The impact of intersectoral convergence is manifested in the fact that the creation of the ecosystem was initiated by a financial institution - the largest Russian savings bank; and the participants in this ecosystem are representatives of a wide variety of sectors and segments of the economy. The impact of digitalization shows in the fact that the basis of joint business is a modern digital base which includes IT, IT platforms and networks. The modern mathematical and instrumental methods of data processing and IT startups are not only the digital specifics of the ecosystem functioning, but also effective tools to attract to a joint business – on a voluntary basis only – the partners from various fields of activity, and provide the Sber ecosystem with undoubted competitive advantages.

Valuation of an IT startup by a venture investor

Valuation of an IT startup by a venture investor

РОЗРОБЛЕННЯ МОДЕЛЕЙ УПРАВЛІННЯ РИЗИКАМИ У ПРОЄКТАХ КІБЕРБЕЗПЕКИ З ВИКОРИСТАННЯМ НЕЧІТКОЇ ЛОГІКИ

This article is devoted to the analysis of the conditions for the implementation of startup projects in the field of cybersecurity, which are currently implemented and funded by the state through the use of modern information technology. There are many different startup projects in this field, related to the rapid development of information technology and information security technology. However, the opportunities for public funding and attracted private funding for such projects are limited, which in some way hinders opportunities for further development. Thus, there is a task of selecting the best startup projects in the field of cybersecurity, which in turn requires the development of the necessary models and modeling methods. This paper investigates and analyzes information sources that show that the issue of evaluating the effectiveness of IT startups is not sufficiently addressed, especially for the use of products of such projects in cybersecurity. This imposes additional requirements and restrictions on the IT products of such projects and on the management processes of such projects. In addition, the future of cybersecurity startups is associated with many parameters that are highly conditional and predictable in the early stages of project review. Therefore, to accept the project for consideration, it is advisable to use fuzzy modeling methods. By using the fuzzy set method, it is possible to use fuzzy variables that reflect the uncertainty of some parameters of such projects. The proposed research methodology is based on the analysis of project efficiency and the use of fuzzy set methods. For this purpose, membership functions are constructed, which establish the degree of belonging of a fuzzy set. The trapezoid model is chosen as the function type and the parameters corresponding to the pessimistic, basic and optimistic scenarios are set. The novelty of the work is to determine the degree of risk of a startup project, which depends on the criterion of project effectiveness. The paper proves the dependence of the cybersecurity project risk indicator on the value of the project effectiveness criterion. The proposed approach has shown its feasibility and can be used to analyze startup projects by scientists, project managers, entrepreneurs and investors, cybersecurity professionals

Ukupni troškovI vlasništva infrastrukture kao servisa za SME

Cloud Computing offers significant cost benefits for SMEs that often do not manage internal IT infrastructure and start-up companies that do not have their own IT infrastructure. This paper presents a total cost of ownership (TCO) approach for cloud computing services with an emphasis on the infrastructure as a service (IaaS) model. Also, the paper presents a methodology for estimating total cost of ownership (TCO) when running computer instances in the IaaS cloud using the GARCH model to predict transaction volatility. The research results show that it is possible to successfully use GARCH models when there is historical data on the number of transactions. In addition, simulation shows that, when there are large oscillations in the number of transactions, the best choice is to reserve instances according to the Partial-Upfront price model. In contrast, if the transaction number is relatively stable, the best choice is the All-Upfront model.

IMPLEMENTATION OF TAX INNOVATIONS FOR UKRAINIAN STARTUPS

In recent decades one of the forms of small innovative entrepreneurship has become more widespread in the world – a startup. In order to stimulate the development of this industry, one of the priority areas of reforms is to create favorable tax conditions for startups. Сreating such conditions will be a direct way to attract investment in the national economy, both foreign and domestic. Such conditions will also contribute to the growth of gross domestic product and living standards of the population of a country. Startups today are developing small businesses in different countries. Large companies grow from them with potential for the future and competing products at the global level. Foreign experience shows that the application of simplified tax regimes is an important component in improving ecosystems for startups in any country. Ukraine has developed and implemented until 2030 the Strategy for the development of innovation, where startups are considered a structural part of the national innovation ecosystem. Within the framework of this Strategy was created a special legal and tax regime Diia City for IT companies and startups. That is why studying issues related to the conditions for the creation and operation of startups, their taxation, choosing a system that will reduce the tax burden, are relevant for the development of all innovative entrepreneurship. The article investigates acting taxation systems for startups in Ukraine and problems that arise in the application of the general and simplified taxation system and the new for Ukraine tax regime Diia City. The authors consider the key issues concerning the selection criteria for startups in the tax system which will allow them to reduce the tax burden. The article identifies a list of issues that need government support to improve the innovation ecosystem for startups in Ukraine.

How to Create Engaging Experiences From Human Emotions

There are several situations where the success of a product or a service depends on people’s emotional reactions while interacting with it. Feelings depends on the personal reaction to the values it offers. Therefore, it is not possible to presume that all persons will share the same reactions. An important challenge that designers have to face is to measure such feelings at every digital and physical touchpoint encountered by the customer and in which an experience takes place. In this context, the present research proposes an emotional-sensitive system able to measure the customer’s emotion and behavior and responsively adapt the experience to generate an individualized human-system interaction. It enables a continuous flow between analysis and reaction at every touchpoint of the customer experience. The paper illustrates the implementing technological framework, developed by EMOJ, an Italian startup leader in Artificial Intelligence (AI), and several applicative use cases.

ABCDE—agile block chain DApp engineering

Blockchain software development is becoming more and more important for any modern software developer and IT startup. Nonetheless, blockchain software production still lacks a disciplined, organized and mature development process, as demonstrated by the many and (in)famous failures and frauds occurred in recent years. In this paper we present ABCDE, a complete method addressing blockchain software development. The method considers the software integration among the blockchain components—smart contracts, libraries, data structures—and the out-of-chain components, such as web or mobile applications, which all together constitute a complete DApp system. We advocate for ABCDE the use of agile practices, because these are suited to develop systems whose requirements are not completely understood since the beginning, or tend to change, as it is the case of most blockchain-based applications. ABCDE is based on Scrum, and is therefore iterative and incremental. From Scrum, we kept the requirement gathering with user stories, the iterative-incremental approach, the key roles, and the meetings. The main difference with Scrum is the separation of development activities in two flows—one for smart contracts and the other for out-of-chain software interacting with the blockchain—each performed iteratively, with integration activities every 2–3 iterations. ABCDE makes explicit the activities that must be performed to design, develop, test and integrate smart contracts and out-of-chain software, and documents the smart contracts using formal diagrams to help development, security assessment, and maintenance. A diagram derived from UML class diagram helps to effectively model the data structure of smart contracts, whereas the exchange of messages between the entities of the system is modeled using a modified UML sequence diagram. The proposed method has also specific activities for security assessment and gas optimization, through systematic use of patterns and checklists. ABCDE focuses on Ethereum blockchain and its Solidity language, but preserves generality and with proper modifications might be applied to any blockchain software project. ABCDE method is described in detail, and an example is given to show how to concretely implement the various development steps.

IT스타트업의 가치지향성과 성과에 관한 연구 : 네트워크의 조절효과

본 연구는 국내 IT스타트업을 대상으로 가치지향성이 성과에 미치는 영향관계를 알아보고, 그 관계에서 네트워크의 조절효과를 분석하는데 목적이 있다. 기업의 장기적 존속과 경쟁우위 선점을 위한 여러 전략적 방향 중 관련 이해 당사자들과 이들이 생활하는 사회 조직에 긍정적인 영향을 미치는 사회적 책임의 중요성이 대두되면서 가치지향적 전략적 방향에 대한 연구가 최근 이루어지고 있지만 기존연구결과는 서로 상이하게 나타나고 있다. 또한 스타트업의 경우, 자원이 부족하기 때문에 네트워크 활용을 통한 새로운 지식과 기술의 공유 등 성과를 증대시키는 노력이 필요하다. 이러한 중요성에도 불구하고 스타트업의 가치지향성 연구와 네트워크를 함께 다룬 연구는 전무하다. 이를 확인하기 위해 국내 스타트업 지원기관 등에 입주하고 있는 94개 IT스타트업을 대상으로 실증연구를 하였으며, PLS-SEM을 사용하여 연구 모형의 적합성을 평가하였다. 연구결과, 가치지향성(고객 지향성, 기술 혁신 지향성, 사회적 책임 지향성)은 세 가지 하위요소 모두 스타트업 성과에 정(+)의 영향을 미치는 것으로 나타났다. 또한, 가치지향성과 성과와의 관계에서 네트워크의 조절역할을 확인한 결과, 고객 지향성과 기술 혁신 지향성은 성과와의 관계에서 네트워크가 조절역할을 하는 것으로 확인되었고, 고객 지향성은 정(+)의 조절역할을 한 반면에, 기술 혁신 지향성은 부(-)의 조절역할을 하는 것으로 나타났다. 또한 사회적 책임 지향성과 성과와의 관계에서는 네트워크가 조절역할을 하지 않는 것으로 확인되었다.

The Definition of Money Grand Received as a Key Determinant of Venture Investment Size in IT Russian Based Startups

Since 2006, Russian policymakers have been actively taking various measures to stimulate the venture capital market. Government venture capital funds are being created, for example, the Russian Venture Company with a capital of 15 billion rubles. Since 2011, thanks to the new legal mechanism, state-owned companies begin to invest in private venture funds. These measures have led to increased fundraising for startups. The main mechanism of such financing is grant support for young companies. According to 2018, the amount of grants to the total amount of funds raised in Russia is one of the highest among developed and developing countries, for comparison in the USA, it is more than 2.5 times lower. The venture market specifics is such that when deciding whether to invest in a company, investors inevitably turn their attention to the previous rounds of financing the company. The purpose of the work is to analyze the effect of the money grant received on the volumes of attracting subsequent financing.
 To analyze the impact of the receiving money grant, the determinant approach was used, as the most common in research on this topic. Based on a sample of 184 Russian IT startups, two OLS models have built to show the effect of money grant size to follow-on investment rounds.
 As a result, various sets of determinants were considered that explain the volume of investments attracted by startups for both international markets and the Russian market. In addition, an excursus was conducted to study the effectiveness of government venture funds, which are the main grantors in the Russian venture market. Based on the results of previous studies on this topic, it was shown that the size of the money grant has a positive effect on the amount of funding attracted in both follow-on rounds. For comparison, a number of previous studies of the Russian venture capital market show that the investment size of the current round has influenced only by the previous fundraising. Such a result testifies to the attractiveness for investors Russian IT startups that received grant support.
 The scientific novelty of the article is that the amount of funding attracted by startups is explained by such a specific indicator as grant support. In addition, the results obtained have certain practical value for those who invest in Russian startups. Investing in startups that received grants increases the likelihood of an exit for the investor in the next investment round.

ПОВЫШЕНИЕ ЭФФЕКТИВНОСТИ ФОРМИРОВАНИЯ ПРОЕКТНЫХ КОМАНД И РАСПРЕДЕЛЕНИЯ ЗАДАЧ IT-ПРОЕКТОВ

In the process of managing IT projects, there are many tasks that require information processing and support for management decisions. The most relevant tasks in managing IT projects are the synthesis of the composition and structure of project teams and the allocation of participants in IT projects to tasks. The article provides a detailed analysis of existing approaches to improving the efficiency of IT project management. A method for improving the efficiency of IT projects management based on evolutionary modeling, an algorithm for forming the structure and composition of project teams, and an algorithm for allocating IT projects participants to tasks are proposed. The effectiveness of the proposed solution in the implementation of educational, outsourcing IT projects and startups is demonstrated.

Digital Transformation - A Primer for Practitioners

Digital Transformation (DX) has revolutionized entire industries, propelled IT start-ups to stratospheric stock market valuations, and is sustaining legions of consultants evangelizing its message. Yet, beyond the creative disruption, hype, and lip service, we see that many organizations ignore or misapply its principles, ideas, and methods. This gap between theory and practice raises an important responsibility for software engineers and particularly for requirements engineers and software architects. If as a professional you specify and design software-intensive systems that ignore how modern digital technology radically transforms customer experience, business processes, business models, and whole organizations, you are short-changing your employer or client. Based on our industry consulting, government service, and volunteering experience, we provide a taxonomy, a road map, and examples of DX opportunities that will allow you to spot and exploit them.

Innovative sources of increasing the competitiveness of rural green tourism enterprises

The subject of research is the theoretical and practical aspects of the definition and implementation of innovations, forms and directions of innovation in order to increase the competitiveness of rural green tourism enterprises. The aim of the work is to identify innovative sources of increasing the competitiveness of rural green tourism enterprises and substantiate the factors, components and tools for innovation in a knowledge economy, digital technologies, non-cash payments, high-speed Internet. The methodological basis of the article were the theoretical and methodological provisions of modern business economics, historical and monographic methods of scientific knowledge, as well as system-structural analysis and synthesis of the study of phenomena and processes, problem-based approach in justifying types, forms and directions of innovation. Results of work. The sources and offered components, directions and tools of introduction of innovations in work of the enterprises of rural green tourism, including in the form of organizational and administrative, marketing, product groups of them are revealed; in the form of IT startups, touring and digital systems and backup networks; timesharing, clustering, strategic alliances and clubs; smart Internet projects, software organization and management of the actual agro-villages and tourist enterprises in the countryside to increase their competitiveness. Field of application of results. Conclusions and results can be used in the work of rural green tourism enterprises, rural communities, public organizations, local governments; in the educational and scientific process of economic faculties of universities, colleges of tourist specialization, other institutions of higher education. Conclusions. Innovative activity in the system of strategic goals, priorities and guidelines for increasing the competitiveness of rural green tourism enterprises in the era of knowledge economy and digitalization will take a leading place. The realization of their important socio-economic functions, as well as other subjects of social life is becoming increasingly associated with an innovative type of development. In turn, it is based on a continuous and purposeful process of finding, preparing and implementing innovations. The possibility and motivation to obtain higher incomes and the need to increase the efficiency of financial and investment resources forces the participants of the tourism business in the countryside to purposefully create new tastes, interests and needs, introduce fundamentally new products, products, services and technologies. All this is also connected with the acceleration of innovation processes.