ABSTRACT
Policy measures to improve the formation and growth rates of new technology-based firms (NTBFs) are increasingly popular in developed economies world wide. NTBFs have come to be recognised as a potentially important constituent of an innovative and advanced economy. However, growing government interest and intervention is also a recognition that technology-based businesses face particular difficulties. Provision of finance through established capital markets for these young enterprises, which by definition are highly speculative, frequently remains problematic. The traditional sources of finance for young firms at start-up, namely the entrepreneur (and his/her family and friends) usually followed by collateral-based bank debt, may be either insufficient or inappropriate to exploit fully the rapid growth potential of an attractive and novel technological product or service (Moore, 1993).
