Venture Capital Data: Opportunities and Challenges

Despite the extent of interest in venture capital, substantial misunderstandings about this intermediary persist. Venture capitalists typically do not disclose much information to the United States Securities and Exchange Commission or other regulators. This has led to a shortage of reliable industry data, but industry advocates and critics still make sweeping claims about venture capital on shaky empirical foundations. This lack of a comprehensive dataset has also posed challenges to academic research. This chapter describes the available data and research on venture capital investments and performance. We comment on the challenges inherent in those data and research as well as possible opportunities to do better. We describe the data and research on investments by venture capital funds in portfolio companies, and then describe the data and research on investments (by institutional investors and wealthy individuals) in the venture capital funds.