Comparative analysis of private equity financing and business angel financing: Is there an effect on innovation?

This study examines how private equity financing and business angel financing affect innovation. In this study, we propose a strategic definition of the concept of innovation in line with firms’ financing requirements. In this way, we try to identify whether certain methods of financing have an impact on innovation. To achieve this, we have set up a database bringing together a sample of firms funded by private equity and business angels in seven European countries. Taking the level of R&D expenditure and the number of patent applications as the measure for innovation, we highlight three main elements. The presence of these investors has a positive impact on the number of patent applications (however not significant for private equity) and a negative impact on the level of R&D expenditure (only significant for private equity). These results tend to indicate that there is no significant difference in the effect of private equity financing and business angel financing on innovation.