Riskkapital & medicintekniska företag
En undersökning om finansieringen från riskkapitalister till svenska medicintekniska företag i introduktions- och expansionsfas
Background: Small businesses are key participants in the growth at the Swedish market, partly for the labour opportunities, the technology and economic development. These companies should get resources to grow, both political and economic resources. The medtech companies in an introduction and expansion phase meet with problems concerning the financing of their growth. Key participants whom offer financing are Venture Capitalists.Purpose: The purpose of this study is to examine Venture Capitalists demands on medtech companies in an introduction and expansion phase. A comparison between the demands and how well medtech companies achieve them will be done. In the event of occurring information and economic gap the study will elucidate the gaps.Method: To gain such a encyclopaedic and just representation of the situation the authors carried through a combination of both quantitative and qualitative studies. The quantitative study got carried through by a questionnaire which got send by email to a number of medtech companies. The qualitative study was made up by interviews with three Venture Capitalists and three medtech companies.Theory: To get at a greater understanding of the companies methods when obtaining capital, theories as the Pecking order, financial lifecycle and a third theory about which factors lead to small companies financial model, have been in used. And also a statement of a fourth theory, the financial gap, has been done. The theory describes an information asymmetry between the company and the financier. Models in use concerning the Venture Capitalists are constituted from their own documented claim surrounding financing.Conclusion: The study indicates an occurrence of several factors that are important to obstruct the financial gap which accrue between medtech companies in early stages of their lifecycle and Venture Capitalists. The survey exhibit that Venture Capitalists are more willing to provide capital if a business angel already has invested in the company. A medtech company should seek itself to Venture Capitalists who have special qualification in life science because of their knowledge in the Medtech branch. Throughout the study we have realized that the younger a Medtech company is the less administrative it is. Therefore it should be important to impel a work as early as possible that involves more administration. Branch experts mention that it is important to increase clinical research and encouragement to fusion between companies to enlarge financing from Venture Capitalists.