UNIVERSITY AS NEW ENTREPRENEURIAL FINANCE PLAYER: A SEARCH FOR THE NEW ROLE

The European strategy is to promote new businesses as a real driver of economic growth, but also to support their growth and resilience. A typical kind of new business is the academic start-up (ASU) that can play a strategic role in their local economy. This paper aims to contribute to the lively debate about the universities policies in entrepreneurial finance. In the first part, it investigates the strengths and weaknesses of academic start-ups and the role that universities have to support them in value creation. The authors tested the research questions on a sample of start-ups of the University of Pisa. The findings show important financial and not-financial goals of academic start-ups. These goals can fuel the dialogue with entrepreneurial finance players. Furthermore, the research shows some ASUs’ vulnerabilities. In conclusion, the role of universities as new entrepreneurial players is discussed.