Let us start with two related venture anecdotes that both occurred in February 2014: Rakuten Inc, one of Japan’s largest internet services companies, announced its acquisition of Viber, a Cyprus‑based (with Israeli roots) messaging company, at a reputed US$900m. Viber, one of the most popular mobile communications services in the world, with a rapidly growing global user base of 300 …

Science parks are unique organizational forms that offer a platform for applied research to flourish. They are composed of research institutions, such as universities, and knowledge-intensive firms, including large, SMEs and incubator enterprises, which locate their research and development (R&D) activities in a particular geographical area, and their aim is to produce, leverage and translate knowledge into viable business products. In …

Since the late 1970s, the Venture Capital asset class has played an important part in a balanced and diversified investment portfolio for many investors. The industry has had many success stories in building and exiting powerhouse companies that are now household names, such as Apple, Google, Amazon, Facebook and most recently, WhatsApp, the second largest technology acquisition of all time. …

Policymakers’ efforts to develop ‘local Silicon Valleys’ began in the 1980s. Such efforts translated into an estimated US$3bn spent annually by Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) governments by the mid 1990s (OECD, 1997). Since then, public venture policies have grown exponentially in scale and scope. Appeared in the issue: Venture Findings — 2014 -1 — Welcome Issue Original Paper …