Ten Meditations on Government Venture Capital
Authored by Gordon Murray, Department of Management, University of Exeter Business School, UK
Executive Summary
This paper reflects on the policy formation process in the burgeoning area of government’s involvement in venture capital finance (VC) over the two decades 2000–2020. It looks at both why and how government VC funds (GVC) have evolved. The increasingly common vehicle of “hybrid” co-investment funds, which include both public and private VC investors, is analysed. The evolution of public intervention in VC markets over time is acknowledged while noting that significant operational challenges remain. The rubric of Ten Meditations is employed as a device to communicate both problem and prescription across the academic/policy maker divide.
Additional Comments from GoingVC
Often overlooked, commonly misunderstood, and far from perfect, the partnership between private and public investing is a critical one for economies, especially developing ones.
In this paper, Murray describes how these partnerships can be structured and how the end-goal and motivations can shape the eventual outcomes. This is particularly important outside the US, where private markets are less robust and therefore rely on the assistance of government programs and funds to spark innovations and growth.