Analysis of Innovative Start-Up Companies – Case of Košice Region
Abstract
Purpose: Support policy for start-up companies is being developed nowadays in Slovakia, but so far there has hardly been any research focuses on this issue. Therefore, the aim of this article is to identify, what are the specific needs and funding sources of start-up companies according to their stage of development.
Methodology/Approach: This paper used questionnaire empirical approach. The research was conducted in the Košice region. The sample of 47 innovative start-up companies was obtained and analysed using statistical measurements such as the Pearson’s chi-square test and the correspondence analysis method.
Findings: The results reveal that start-up companies at their initial phase of development mostly use bank loans as a funding source of their activities, but they opt also business angel as their source of funding at start phase of development. The findings further discover relation between the stage of the development of start-up company and its specific need. Additionally, research probes that collaboration with other firms or universities has a positive impact on prosperity of the start-up company in terms of higher profitability and better access to funding.
Research limitation/Implication: The Košice region is not an area, where representative survey in the field of start-up companies can be held nowadays. It relates to small market of innovative and creative solutions and goes with not so developed incentives to support start-up companies in their initial phase of development too. Thus, all the results and the outcomes coming from the dataset can be considered rather demonstrational than complex.
Originality/Value of paper: We show the specific needs and funding sources for start-up companies in the Košice region according to their stage of development and thus identify, which aspects government representatives should pay attention to and what should be taken into consideration when designing policy initiatives oriented towards support of start-up prosperity. Furthermore, we bridge the gap between increased attention to analysis of start-up companies and no effort made to analyse them in the Košice region.
Full text article
References
Alweendo, T., 2004. Keynote Address at the Opening Ceremony of the 6th African Development Finance Conference and SMME Awards, Cape Town, South Africa, 20–21 October 2004.
Blank, S. and Dorf, B., 2012. The startup owner's manual: the step-by-step guide for building a great company. Pescadero: K & S Ranch.
Bürgel, O., Fier, A., Licht, G. and Murray, G., 1998. Internationalisation of High-Tech Start-Ups and Fast Growth - Evidence for UK and Germany. [pdf] Available at: http://ftp.zew.de/pub/zew-docs/dp/dp0035.pdf [Accessed 25 November 2015].
Chorev, S., and Anderson, A., 2008. Success factors for high-tech start ups: Views and lessons of Israeli experts. In: A. Groen et al., ed. 2008. New technology-based firms in the new millenium. Emerald Group Publishing, pp. 44–68.
City of Košice, 2015. Guide to investment in Košice. [pdf] Available at: http://www.kosice.sk/static/prilohy/KE_investment_bulletin2015.pdf [Accessed 25 November 2015].
Cvijanović, V., Marović, M. and Sruk, B., 2008. Financiranje malih i srednjih poduzeća. Zagreb: Binoza Press.
Čalopa, M.K., Horvat, J. and Lalić, M., 2014. Analysis of financing sources for start-up companies. Management, 19(2), pp.19–44.
Džupka, P., Vajda, V., 2014. Start-up and Spin-off Does They Require Different Support? In: 5th Central European Conference in Regional Science. Košice, Slovakia, pp. 205–214. Available at: http://www3.ekf.tuke.sk/cers/files/zbornik2014/PDF/Dzupka,%20Vajda.pdf [Accessed 25 November 2015].
European Commission, 2015. User guide to the SME definition. [pdf] Available at: http://ec.europa.eu/DocsRoom/documents/10109/attachments/1/translations/en/renditions/pdf [Accessed 25 November 2015].
George, G., Zahra, S.A. and Wood, D.R., 2002. The effects of business-university alliances on innovative output and financial performance: a study of publicly traded biotechnology companies. Journal of Business Venturing, 17(6), pp. 577–609. DOI: 10.1016/S0883-9026(01)00069-6.
Grant, R.M., 1998. Contemporary strategy analysis. 8th ed. New York: Blackwell.
Gübeli M,H., Doloreux, D., 2005. An empirical study of university spin-off development. European Journal of Innovation Management, 8(3), pp. 269–282.
Kazanjian, R.K., 1988. Relation of dominant problems to stages growth in technology-based new ventures. Academy of Management Journal, 31(2), pp. 257-279.
Lav?ák, M., Hudec, O., 2015. The Late Turn-Out of the Slovak Startup Factories: Locational and Institutional Factors. [pdf] Available at: http://www-sre.wu.ac.at/ersa/ersaconfs/ersa15/e150825aFinal01242.pdf [Accessed 25 November 2015].
Lejpras, A., 2012. How Innovative Are Spin-Offs at Later Stages of Development? Comparing Innovativeness of Established Research Spin-Offs and Otherwise Created Firms. Small Business Economics, 43(2), pp.327–351. DOI: 10.1007/s11187-013-9534-4.
Lerner, J., 1994. The Importance of Patent Scope - an Empirical-Analysis. RAND Journal of Economics, 25(2), pp.319–333.
Leland, H., Pyle, D., 1977. Informational asymmetries, financial structure, and financial intermediation. Journal of Finance 32(2), pp.371–387.
Liebeskind, J.P., Oliver, A.L., Zucker, L. and Brewer, M., 1996. Social networks, learning, and flexibility: Sourcing scientific knowledge in new biotechnology firms. Organization Science, 7(4), pp. 428–443. DOI: 10.3386/w5320.
Mazania, M., Fatoki, O., 2012. Perceptions of Start-up Small and Medium-Sized Enterprises (SMEs) on the Importance of Business Development Services Providers (BDS) on Improving Access to Finance in South Africa. Journal of social sciences, 30(1), pp.31–41.
Maurya, A., 2012. Running Lean: Iterate from Plan A to a Plan That Works. California: O´Reilly Media.
Muller, B., Rammer, Ch., 2012. Start-up promotion instruments in OECD countries and their application in developing countries. [pdf] GIZ GmbH. Available at: http://ftp.zew.de/pub/zew-docs/gutachten/start-up-promotion2012.pdf [Accessed 25 November 2015].
Saini, S., Plowman, K., 2007. Effective communications in growing pre-IPO startups. Journal of Promotion Management, 13(3), pp.203–232. DOI: 10.1080/10496490802308547.
Skuladotir, Á., 2013. "It is like asking someone: how do you walk?" The role of communication in start-up companies. MSc. Aalto University. Available at: http://epub.lib.aalto.fi/en/ethesis/pdf/13207/hse_ethesis_13207.pdf[Accessed 25 November 2015].
Spišáková, E., 2010. Analysis of innovation activity of Slovak and Czech enterprises. Quality Innovation Prosperity, 14(1–2), pp.42–56. DOI: 10.12776/qip.v14i1-2.33.
Yelland, P. M., 2010. An Introduction to Correspondence Analysis. The Mathematica Journal, 12(1), pp.86–109. Available at: http://www.mathematica-journal.com/data/uploads/2010/09/Yelland.pdf [Accessed 25 November 2015].
Authors
This is an open access journal which means that all content is freely available without charge to the user or his/her institution. Users are allowed to read, download, copy, distribute, print, search, or link to the full texts of the articles in this journal without asking prior permission from the publisher or the author. This is in accordance with the BOAI definition of open access. This journal is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License - http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0.
Authors who publish with the Quality Innovation Prosperity agree to the following terms:
- Authors retain copyright and grant the journal right of first publication with the work simultaneously licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution License that allows others to share the work with an acknowledgement of the work's authorship and initial publication in this journal.
- Authors are able to enter into separate, additional contractual arrangements for the non-exclusive distribution of the journal's published version of the work (e.g., post it to an institutional repository or publish it in a book), with an acknowledgement of its initial publication in this journal.
- Authors are permitted and encouraged to post their work online (e.g., in institutional repositories or on their website) prior to and during the submission process, as it can lead to productive exchanges, as well as earlier and greater citation of published work.