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What qualities do government-owned venture capital investors seek in a new venture? A comparison of investment criteria across pre-seed, seed, and expansion stage startups

Private venture capital (VC) investors usually do not invest in early life-cycle stage startups such as seed and pre-seed companies, since investment size typically doesn’t reach investment thresholds. The entry of governments with fund managers to venture capital markets presents seed and pre-seed companies with the opportunity to receive funding. This paper examines the main investment preferences of Hungarian government-owned venture capital investors regarding pre-seed, seed, and expansion stage startups. Verbal protocol analysis enabled examination of the screening process in real-time in all three life-cycle stages. It is found that governmental VC funds mostly value financial indicators followed by market-related qualities while private VCs value these characteristics in alternate formation. However, in the pre-seed stage, the financial acumen and capabilities of management teams form the main criteria in similarity to angel investors. Governmental VCs also greatly seek innovational value in target firms.