Venture Capital Markets: How Does the EU Compare to Usa?

Amarda Kadia
European University of Tirana

Abstract

Venture capital markets have become an important source of financing for the new economy. Venture capital investments in the United States during 2019 amounted to USD 135 billion while venture capital investments in Europe amounted to USD 12 billion representing only 8% of the capital investments made in USA. In order to further understand this financing gap we analyse how the EU wants to bridge this finding gap through public funding in venture capital and the many risks associated with government funding in the private market. We find that the EU commission has increased funding to venture capital but this has not had the desired outcome and Europe still lacks behind USA. This paper therefore aims to understand the factors driving venture capital investments and at the same time to analyse the factors why Europe lacks behind USA and what can be done to overcome this gap

Presentation