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Date: Fri, 11 Feb 2005 11:25:45 -0500
Below from today's venturewire is a short piece on VC in Europe. I was
intrigued by the remakrs of the EU president and found a few links but
nothing that seems really revolutionary:
http://europa.eu.int/growthandjobs/areas/fiche06_en.htm
http://tinyurl.com/3nhyy
An element that is also being discussed in Switzerland is the lifting of
trade barriers to create more competition. A more competitive landscape
in CH, be it for universities or for companies, will only marginally
help startups but that's a good start. I am not convinced about another
point that suggests giving financial aid to VC firms. There are few
successes of publicly-funded VC funds in the US and I don't think this
will help in EU much neither. Finally, and we will have some activities
around this field too, I believe that Europe and CH is well positionned
in environmental technologies. There are a few years to go through
before those technologies are commercial successes without all kinds of
subsidies, but their time will come!
-- Pascal
venture market summary
By VentureWire Staff Reporters
In recent weeks Europe has shown signs it's warming up to venture
capital. Sofinnova Partners earlier this week joined other established
European venture firms Advent Venture Partners and Wellington Partners
in having a fund closing recently. Paris-based Sofinnova raised its
fifth fund rather quickly and above its target, saying that the
improvement in the exit environment, a broader recovery in institutional
optimism and a strong lead from U.S. venture fund-raising are
contributing to the positive VC environment. And last week European
Union Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso unveiled ambitious plans
to increase and better target research funding to encourage start-ups,
particularly biotechs.
Now data from VentureOne and Ernst & Young indicates that annual venture
capital investments in European companies held steady in 2004, capping
three years of steady declines. However, the number of deals for the
year dropped 20%, showing investors are pickier but putting more money
into deals they like. The median amount invested in a round of venture
capital financing in the fourth quarter rose 32% to EUR1.77 million from
EUR1.34 million in the year-ago period.
VentureOne Director of International Research Steve Harmston said the
decrease in deal flow is to be expected as "there has been a lot of talk
in Europe about concentrating money in higher quality deals. If you're
an entrepreneur, it's much harder to get funded in Europe." VentureOne
is owned by Dow Jones & Co., which also publishes this newsletter.
_______________________________________
Pascal Marmier
Advisor, Innovation and Entrepreneurship
SHARE, Consulate of Switzerland
420 Broadway
Cambridge, MA 02138
Phone: (617) 876-3076 ext.13
Mobile: (617) 331-3989
Fax: (617) 876-3079
Email: pascal_at_shareboston.org <mailto:pascal_at_shareboston.org>
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Received on Fri Feb 11 2005 - 17:58:27 PST
