Finance:Venture Development

Venture development describing economic development activity that is focused on using best-practices and activities of experienced business mentoring and pre-angel and venture capital investing in order to help create venture and angel-capital-ready firms which have the promise to create significant economic wealth for a region, state or country including entrepreneurial wealth and jobs.

Communities that do not have recent significant history or a critical mass of current venture-backed firms are beginning to pursue venture development as a way to help their local economies begin to transform their ability to create and support such organizations.

Venture development organizations typically are organized as not-for-profit corporations. They may manage for profit or not-for-profit seed funds. Their sources of financial support are corporations, local and state governments, universities, research institutions, foundations, and individuals.

Why is Venture Development Important?

Venture-backed firms now account for a significant portion of current jobs in the U.S. economy.

• Employees from venture-backed companies represent 9 percent of all private sector U.S. employment and the revenues from venture-backed companies represent 17.6 percent of U.S. GDP
• U.S. companies that received venture capital resources from 1970-2006 now account for 10.4 million jobs and $2.3 trillion in revenue in the U.S. economy
• Venture-backed companies also grow much faster (revenues and employees) versus non venture-backed companies (11.8 percent versus 6.5 percent in revenues and 3.6 percent versus 1.4 percent in employment between 2003 and 2006)

As a result of these existing and on-going trends, the economy of communities that do not have a significant set of venture-backed firms will suffer on a competitive peer basis when evaluating economics such as job growth and per-capita income.