JULIEN SALIN

Are business angel-backed companies truly different? a comparative analysis of the financial structure

Nadine Levratto, Julien Salin

Abstract

Through a new eye on corporate finance theories of small firms and of business angel financing determinants, this paper reconsiders the impact of Business Angels on financial structure of backed firms using matching method and a unique individual dataset of French companies over the 2009-2015 period. It shows that the signal effect of Business angel investment, improving access to external finance from another investor is limited. This paper contributes to the corporate finance literature by investigating on the validity of principal corporate finance theories. It also brings insight to the understanding of value added of BA on backed firms.

Mot(s) clé(s)

Keywords: Business angels, Financial Structure, Informal venture capital, Matching techniques