Drivers of growth and internationalization of start-ups and SMEs

The research aims at investigating the drivers of growth and internalization of firms in Europe, with the extensive use of data analytics and semantic analysis tools. A particular focus is on the patterns of growth and innovation of fast growing mid-sized firms and the drivers of internationalization of start-ups and SMEs. The research is mainly developed in the context of two research projects funded by the European Commission: the FP7 RISIS1 and Horizon2020 RISIS2 projects, which resulted in the release of the Cheetah database.

The research aims at investigating the drivers of growth and internalization of firms in Europe, with a focus on the patterns of growth and innovation of fast growing mid-sized firms and the drivers of internationalization of start-ups and SMEs. The research is mainly developed in the context of two projects funded by the European Commission: the FP7 RISIS1 and the Horizon2020 RISIS2. The output of the first project is the Cheetah database, which contains geographical, industry and accounting information on three cohorts of about 42,400 mid-sized firms based in 30 European countries and Israel that experienced fast growth during three subsequent periods: 2008-2011, 2009-2012 and 2010-2013. With RISIS2 we will go a step further, with the extensive application of data analytics tools and semantic analysis tools to develop a new set of indicators aimed at mapping the changes in firms’ patterns of innovation in business models and organizational processes, and the identification of firms’ ownership structure and patterns of growth (organic v. external growth).The new infrastructure will be fully inscribed into the open science approach.

The research team also investigates the microeconomic drivers of internationalization of start-ups by specifically looking at the human capital characteristics of entrepreneurs and the different sources of financing they use.

Key research questions:

What are the patterns of growth of medium-sized firms and their determinants? What are the industry-specific and location-specific characteristics of high-growth medium sized firms? How growth is related to their financing and governance?  How can high growth be sustained over time? What is the relation between organic and external growth for medium-sized high-growth firms?

What are the microeconomic drivers of the internationalization of start-ups? What is the link between the human capital characteristics of entrepreneurs, the sources of financing, and the internationalization of the firms they create?

Outputs and Impact (e.g. main publications or other impact results):

  • Colombo, M. G., & Grilli, L. (2010). On growth drivers of high-tech start-ups: Exploring the role of founders’ human capital and venture capital. Journal of Business Venturing, 25(6), 610-626.
  • Bertoni, F., Colombo, M. G., & Grilli, L. (2011). Venture capital financing and the growth of high-tech start-ups: Disentangling treatment from selection effects. Research Policy, 40(7), 1028-1043.

Link to website (if available): https://risis.eu.