On 10th May 2012 I attended the Finance Focus Breakfast The economic impact of venture capital investment-in Europe which focused on the economic impact of venture capital investment in Europe.
During this meeting I listened to an interesting presentation by Massimo Colombo which was followed by comments by Karen Wilson. The event was devoted to venture capital (VC) funds and their economic role in the EU. It was focused on the presentation and discussion of results from a large EU-funded research endeavor (VICO project), including the impact of VC funding on firm growth performance and the importance of VC investments from the view point of the innovation policy community as well as from the financial markets’ perspective.
After that I had the opportunity to interview the two guest speakers about the impact of VC investments in Europe, the difference between the US and Europe in attracting VC investments and what are their policy recommendations for EU policy-makers to solicit more VC.