Value adding role of Venture Capital, case study of sustainable start­ups in Poland

• Autor(a) principal: Pasternak, Dawid Przemyslaw
• Data de Publicação: 2023
• Tipo de documento: Dissertação
• Idioma: eng
• Título da fonte: Repositório Científico de Acesso Aberto de Portugal (Repositórios Cientìficos)
• Texto Completo: http://hdl.handle.net/10400.14/42654
• topic: Venture Capital; Sustainable start­ups; Value­adding activities; Capital de risco; Start­ups sustentáveis; Actividades de valor acrescentado; Domínio/Área Científica::Ciências Sociais::Economia e Gestão

This dissertation explores the value­adding role of Venture Capital (VC) firms in fostering sustainable start­ups in Poland, highlighting aspects beyond mere financial contributions. It focuses on the internal and external determinants that affect VC firms' engagement, challenges encountered, and key success factors to surmount these obstacles. Drawing on extensive literature review from the domains of venture capital, entrepreneurship, and sustainability, the present state of research on the involvement of VC firms in sustainable start­ups is discussed. This theoretical groundwork sets the stage for the empirical analysis, incorporating a multiple case study of six VC­backed sustainable start­ups in Poland. The empirical study relies on primary data sourced from semi­structured interviews with key individuals responsible for the start­ups' operations and secondary data. The dissertation uncovers important nuances in the involvement of VC firms, with those offering a holistic suite of services, including strategic advising and networking opportunities, significantly enhancing start­ups' development. Furthermore, importance of networking and know­how, emerge as the most important value­adding activities for the founders. Additionally, the dissertation's findings confirm an increasing trend of capital flowing into sustainable investments, underlining growing concern for environmental, social, and governance issues. The insights from this research could prove instrumental for VC firms in devising effective strategies to support sustainable start­ups, potentially extending their applicability to other emerging markets as well.