Master
2026/2027
New Venture Financing
Type:
Elective course (Master of International Business)
Delivered by:
School of Innovation and Entrepreneurship
Where:
School of Innovation and Entrepreneurship
When:
2 year, 1 module
Open to:
students of one campus
Instructors:
Olga Guseva
Language:
English
ECTS credits:
6
Contact hours:
40
Course Syllabus
Abstract
This course considers financing decisions of entrepreneurial firms, especially of ventures in high-tech industries at early stages of life cycle. Opacity and specificity of such firms create additional barriers for funding and require better understanding of the financing landscape for such companies. This course discusses available sources of capital through life cycle stages of the firms and introduces specific tools for management of uncertainty and asymmetry of information in their funding decisions. Special attention is paid to venture capital firms and their value addition to portfolio companies.This course will provide students with theoretical concepts of entrepreneurial finance and demonstrate real-life problems facing new ventures. The course will cover questions of venture financing from the perspectives of both entrepreneurs and investors.
Learning Objectives
- Explain special aspects of funding new ventures as opposed to financing of mature companies considered in standard corporate finance theory
- Explain the difference between types of new venture investors
- Provide students with a framework for making decisions about financing of a new venture from entrepreneur’s and investor’s points
- Prepare students to make effective presentations of investment opportunities from entrepreneur’s and investor’s side
Expected Learning Outcomes
- Analyze and compare financing choices for new ventures, including types and sources of financing
- Identify exit strategies and explain venture harvesting processes
- Develop communication and presentation skills for capital raising, formulating business plan, strategies
- Build financial forecasts for new ventures under uncertainty
- To make effective and well-timed decisions about new venture financing and harvesting
Course Contents
- Introduction. New venture finance vs. Corporate Finance. Life-cycle of the company
- Entrepreneurial characteristics and teams. Corporate governance in entrepreneurial firms. Moral hazard and adverse selection.
- Sources of financing across the life cycle. Capital structure and financing choices of new ventures.
- Unit economics and start-up metrics.
- Business plan, investment memorandum and pitch deck
- Business models, revenue forecasting, market sizing and assessment of financial needs.
- New venture valuation. Real option valuation. Entrepreneur’s and venture capital fund’s perspective on valuation
- Venture capital and private equity finance: organization, investment selection. Government venture funds
- Deal terms. Incentive problems, information problems. Contract design. Exit options. Turnaround strategies
- Exit and harvesting.
Assessment Elements
- In-class company presentation
- Class participation and in-class exercises
- In-class problem-solving exercise
- Valuation exercise
- Final pitch of a new venture
- Peer review of the final pitches
Interim Assessment
- 2026/2027 1st module0.1 * Peer review of the final pitches + 0.1 * In-class company presentation + 0.15 * In-class problem-solving exercise + 0.2 * Class participation and in-class exercises + 0.3 * Final pitch of a new venture + 0.15 * Valuation exercise
Bibliography
Recommended Core Bibliography
- Corporate venture capital: From venturing to partnering. (2011). Oxford University Press. Retrieved from http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&site=eds-live&db=edsnar&AN=edsnar.oai.tilburguniversity.edu.publications.24469b84.7f76.4eb1.b08f.68d072811ab8
- Miranda S. Lam, & Gina Vega. (2020). Entrepreneurial Finance : Concepts and Cases. Routledge.
Recommended Additional Bibliography
- Venture capital and the finance of innovation, Metrick, A., 2011