Innovation in venture capital backed clean-technology firms in the UK
Innovation in venture capital backed clean-technology firms in the UK
The venture capital sector may not be supportive of radical new clean-technology innovation: a potential concern for the UK's vision of achieving a low carbon economy.
Driven by political pressures to cut down CO2 emissions and to find cheaper and renewable alternatives to fuel based technologies, the clean technology sector (cleantech) has risen as an important target for VC investments in recent years. Using a broad definition of cleantech aimed at alternative energy production and/or providing solutions to environmental problems (Cooke 2008), this paper studies the relationship between innovation and venture capital (VC) funding for 239 UK firms. Our analysis is based on a unique combination of three datasets; (1) FAME, (2) UK Intellectual Property Office patent data and (3) Cleantech Network’s Venture Investments data. We find that the majority of VC backed UK cleantech firms do not patent or patent very little. This initial research suggests that venture capital sector may not be supportive of radical new cleantech innovation; a potential concern for the UK’s vision of achieving a low carbon economy.
343-357
Parris, Stuart
22f91a73-a10b-4c02-bdea-ecba08e7d6ac
Demirel, Pelin
687c839d-b7dc-4914-972a-293ab9f014c2
November 2010
Parris, Stuart
22f91a73-a10b-4c02-bdea-ecba08e7d6ac
Demirel, Pelin
687c839d-b7dc-4914-972a-293ab9f014c2
Parris, Stuart and Demirel, Pelin
(2010)
Innovation in venture capital backed clean-technology firms in the UK.
[in special issue: Raising the Rate of Venture Capital: Financial Instruments Offsetting High Risk, Debt Exposure, and Short-Term Failure]
Strategic Change, 19 (7-8), .
(doi:10.1002/jsc.880).
Abstract
The venture capital sector may not be supportive of radical new clean-technology innovation: a potential concern for the UK's vision of achieving a low carbon economy.
Driven by political pressures to cut down CO2 emissions and to find cheaper and renewable alternatives to fuel based technologies, the clean technology sector (cleantech) has risen as an important target for VC investments in recent years. Using a broad definition of cleantech aimed at alternative energy production and/or providing solutions to environmental problems (Cooke 2008), this paper studies the relationship between innovation and venture capital (VC) funding for 239 UK firms. Our analysis is based on a unique combination of three datasets; (1) FAME, (2) UK Intellectual Property Office patent data and (3) Cleantech Network’s Venture Investments data. We find that the majority of VC backed UK cleantech firms do not patent or patent very little. This initial research suggests that venture capital sector may not be supportive of radical new cleantech innovation; a potential concern for the UK’s vision of achieving a low carbon economy.
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e-pub ahead of print date: 19 November 2010
Published date: November 2010
Organisations:
Centre for Innovation & Enterprise
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Local EPrints ID: 377725
URI: http://eprints.soton.ac.uk/id/eprint/377725
ISSN: 1086-1718
PURE UUID: b3c937d0-7093-4374-9e80-1e639fb58dea
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Date deposited: 10 Jun 2015 15:33
Last modified: 14 Mar 2024 20:08
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Author:
Stuart Parris
Author:
Pelin Demirel
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