Looking for complementarities. Within-industry diversification and geographic diversification of Venture Capital Firms

ABSTRACT Research on Venture Capitalists' (VCs) industrial diversification is supplemented with the notion of diversification along an industry’s value chain. VCs are hypothesized to create a portfolio of complementary investments along the value chain, accompanied by low geographic diversification. Further, VCs specializing in an industry with network externalities are predicted to devote relatively more investments to this industry, followed by an increased propensity for diversification along the value chain. This, subsequently, will result in less geographic diversification. The hypotheses are supported through a study on VCs in the US and Europe. Contributions to the literature on VCs, diversification, geographic agglomeration and network effects are discussed.