The High Risk and High Reward Game : Performance of Venture Capital Backed IPOs

Abstract: For start-up businesses, the source of outside capital can be retrieved from the venture capital industry. The venture capital industry has grown substantially over the past 50 years, reaching its pinnacle during the internet bubble in the 1990s and serves as an important contributor to the economy. After some time, and optimally when the start-up has matured into a successful business, venture capitalists want to receive money in return for their investments. Most commonly, the exiting of venture capital investments is retrieved through an IPO. An IPO refers to the transition from a private corporation to a public corporation and occurs when a private corporation offers its shares to the public for the first time. The existing literature of IPOs is commonly associated with the depiction of abnormal returns. More precisely, the offer price is often underpriced in comparison to the closing price on the first day of trading. In addition, the returns 1 to 5 years after going public are often subject to subsequent declines (Miller & Riley, 1987; Ritter, 1998). A part of the underperformance of IPOs is anchored in the type of capital structure, venture capital. Thus, this study examines the relationship between venture capital backed IPOs and IPO performance. Furthermore, the relationship between the degree of venture capital, the amount of capital held by the venture capital firm in the IPO, and IPO performance are examined in order to discover eventual correlations. Concerning the performed analysis, the study concludes that there is no clear positive relationship between venture capital backing and IPO performance in the short run. However, one could interpret that being a VC-backed IPO can be prosperous for long-term performance since VC has a positive impact on ROA. Regarding the degree of venture capital, it had a negative impact on the ROA, i.e., the level of degree of venture capital does not have a positive impact on the IPO performance.