eThesis - Kauppakorkeakoulun sähköiset gradut

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The objective of this Master's Thesis is to research and evaluate the impact of the external factors of equity-based funding, venture capital, international social capital and public internationalization support on the revenue growth and internationalization of Finnish technology start-ups.

This research is organized as a quantitative study of the effects of equity funding, venture capital, international social capital, and public internationalization support on the subsequent growth and internationalization of 61 comparable Finnish technology start- ups that applied for the BornGlobal™ project in between August 2006 and August 2008. The theoretical framework and hypotheses for analyzing the impact of each of the identified factors were formed from prior academic literature and prevailing knowledge in the spheres of Born Global, start-up growth, venture funding, and social capital research. To test the applicability of the theoretical framework and generated hypotheses, quantitative tests of non-parametric design were utilized as the assumption of normality could not be sufficiently substantiated in the dependent variables. The utilized tests comprised of the Pearson's Chi-Square Test of Independence, the Mann-Whitney test, the Kruskal-Wallis test, and the Spearman Correlation Coefficient.

This study satisfies the set research objective and answers the postulated research question comprehensively by extending the knowledge on the impact of external factors on the growth and internationalization of Born Global firms. The empirical analysis supports the claimed advantages of independent venture capital funding and international social capital in the top management on the revenue growth and internationalization performance of the sample start-ups. On the other hand, the hypothesized effects of public internationalization assistance, equity funding, and the positive relationship between the dependent variables of growth and internationalization did not receive statistical validation. Moreover, the study extended the contemporary research on the effect of the selected external factors on Born Global growth and internationalization to the Finnish business environment.