Funding innovation and growth in UK new technology-based firms: Some observations on contributions from the public and private sectors

This paper explores the recent evolution of funding for New Technology-Based Firms (NTBFs) in the UK, with particular concern for the post-1980 period. Special attention is placed upon the relationship between public and private sector funding, and the ways in which these different funding cultures impact upon NTBF development. By citing a number of practical examples, the paper argues that a better integration of public and private sector funding would be to the advantage of all funders, the recipients and the wider economies in which all those involved co-exist. Improved collaboration would create a funding whole, achieved through sympathetic interaction between the public and private sectors, of greater value than the sum of its constituent parts.