ABSTRACT
This chapter examines the characteristics of Private Equity (PE) investments in entrepreneurial firms in comparison to VCs. Venture capital funds (VCs) and buyout funds typically have very different investment objectives, styles, and geographic target areas. It looks into what type of entrepreneurial companies PEs prefer to invest, the investment size, valuation, and the exit performance of the portfolio companies when a PE fund is involved. In 2015, growth equity investments totaled $20.6 billion across 463 deals with the industry mix being very similar to that of VCs and reaching a 15-year high. The chapter examines three aspects of PE investments in entrepreneurial firms in the multivariate setting, investment size, valuation, and the exit performance, respectively. PE funds invested about $68 billion in entrepreneurial firms at different development stages, which is about 16% of the total amount invested by the VC funds. Over 6,000 entrepreneurial companies received funding from PE funds, representing 22% of the sample.
