Social entrepreneurship and philanthropic venture capital financing

Abstract

Philanthropic venture capitalists (PhVCs) are instrumental in providing access to capital to social enterprises. Our research aims to provide a comprehensive analysis of PhVCs in India. Using deals data for Indian startups from 2014 to 2020, we observe that, on average, 15% of the startup deals are PhVC-funded, and the majority of these deals are in the early or growth stage of financing. Our research examines the challenges faced by social entrepreneurs by analyzing the point of negotiation between PhVCs and social entrepreneurs. We find that, on average, the post-money valuation of social entrepreneurial ventures is lower than that of traditional start-ups, suggesting towards the possibility of lower negotiation power compared to traditional entrepreneurs. This relatively lower valuation exists for all regions in India for growth and the late stages of financing. The study is important from a policy perspective to understand how policies can promote SEs and facilitate the smooth functioning of PhVCs looking to invest in social ventures. Improving venture capital funding avenues for social entrepreneurs is the key to reducing social ventures' financing constraints.