Exploring Venture Funding in the Entrepreneurial University

Abstract

This chapter considers the role of venture funding in the entrepreneurial university. It begins by discussing the literature on the entrepreneurial university, focusing on the role of financing. The literature shows that there are gaps in the financing of academic and graduate ventures. The second part of the chapter introduces short case examples that illustrate different forms of university-led venture funding, demonstrating how different universities have sought to fill funding gaps by means of seed capital grants, micro-financing, small business research grants, crowdfunding, social impact investing, seed capital investing, public venture capital, and venture capital. The chapter concludes by arguing that universities have sufficient resource endowments and human capital to address many funding gaps through innovative thinking and practice.