Fund stage focus

Rescue and turnaround funds hunt for signs of potential in struggling companies. Patents and trade marks can represent unrecognised value that can be developed into something bigger and better.

Figure 9 takes the perspective of Private Equity funds, showing the amounts invested to companies having filed for intellectual property rights, split by the stage focus of the fund providing the most capital to each company in each quarter. Buyout-focused funds lead with almost €500 billion invested in EU27 companies from 2007 to the first half of 2023.

The European private equity and venture capital industry invested 20% of its capital in companies with patents, 40% in companies with trade marks, and 15% in companies with both types of IPRs. Rescue/Turnaround-focused funds invested the highest percentage of their funds in companies filing for patents and trade marks, showing how these IPRs can signal valuable turnaround opportunities that can be developed for company recovery and growth.

Key statistics

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€500bn

invested in EU27 companies from 2007 to the first half of 2023 by Buyout-focused funds

 

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20%

of the capital invested in companies with patents

 

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40%

of the capital invested in companies with trade marks

 

 

Figure 9: Amounts invested and Share of amounts invested in companies filing for IP rights, by Fund stage focus providing the highest amount in the quarter

 
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Note: Total investment is EUR 809 billion on EU27 companies in the sample between 2007 and the first half of 2023. The chart above represents the amounts invested according to the fund stage focus providing the highest amounts over the quarter, and then the share of amounts invested to companies having at least one patent filing, trade mark filing, or both.