Maximizing the Returns of Government Venture Capital Programs

摘要

This paper examines how government venture capital (GVC) initiatives can provide four key benefits to the government: a wider 'window' on new technology development, an increased potential government supplier base, more leverage of private investment, and more rapid acquisition of new technologies. The majority of the information in this paper was compiled from interviews with corporate and private venture capitalists and survey responses as well as interviews from GVC-backed companies. All of the surveys and interviews were nonattributional, a necessary caveat to ensure that the interviewees could provide honest and uncensored responses. While this study generally focuses on improvements to these programs, it should be noted that most companies surveyed and interviewed were largely positive about their interaction with GVC programs. In a survey, 81.5 percent of In-Q-Tel and 100 percent of On-Point Technologies companies rated these programs as similar to or better than their private VC investors.