Financing the Development of Technology Startups

In the modern knowledge society, technological entrepreneurship represents a potential engine for the socioeconomic development of regions and territories. Skilled human capital endowed with social attitudes and transversal skills, the open configuration of working environments, and the change attitude of individuals, organizations, and society today represent the complementary factors to the new technologies for the development of a modern entrepreneurial society. Moreover, there is a possibility of access to financial sources that public and private actors decide to reserve for supporting technology entrepreneurship. This constitutes the final element that closes the entire process. It thus allows transforming a smart and innovative idea into a successful company. In particular, it becomes crucial to provide a clear and valuable support to each phase of startup creation (e.g., ideation, validation, build, launch, growth, and maturity), with a specific focus on the financial sources that can be used to implement each phase. In such a perspective, this chapter provides an overview of the main instruments, processes, and actors that can support the development of an entrepreneurial idea and the growth of a startup during the different stages by describing exemplary cases and initiatives of 3Fs funds, public funding, business angels, crowdfunding, venture capital, initial public offerings, corporate venture capital, banks, incubators, and accelerators.