According to a survey, more than three-quarters of Germans believe that access to venture capital is important for Germany as a business location. At the same time, just over half of those surveyed say they don't know exactly what venture capital actually is.
The overwhelming majority of respondents, 71%, also agreed or completely agreed with the statement that venture capital is extremely important for Germany, as it enables young companies to finance themselves without bank loans.
The venture capital company e.ventures asked 1,000 German citizens about their attitudes towards venture capital. Andreas Haug, General Partner at e.ventures, explains the importance of venture capital:
“How important venture capital is for an economy is demonstrated by the success of global corporations such as Apple, Google, and Microsoft, all of which were initially financed with venture capital.”
No idea, but an opinion?
Interesting—and a little puzzling—is the last statement to be evaluated: "I'm not really sure what venture capital actually means. To me, these investors are just corporate jugglers like many other investment firms." Aside from the fact that several different things were asked simultaneously, 55% somewhat or completely agreed with this statement. In other words, more than half of the respondents answered questions about venture capital and then said they didn't really know what it actually is. It seems that some educational work is needed here.
Furthermore, at least one of the five questions raises doubts as to whether the average respondent fully understood it: "Venture capital for company founders only leads to the elimination of expensive jobs elsewhere. No wonder the incoming US President Donald Trump is focusing more on older, established industries." 40% (somewhat) agree, 60% (somewhat) disagree with the statements. It remains unclear what expensive jobs are and what exactly Donald Trump has to do with them. It's possible that the respondents simply didn't want to agree with the future US President.
