Asia-Pacific Journal of Business Venturing and Entrepreneurship (벤처창업연구)

The Korean Society of Business Venturing (한국벤처창업학회)
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The Analysis of Investment Determinants in Angel Investors: Focus on the Financial Characteristics

엔젤투자자의 투자의사 결정요인 분석: 재무적 특성을 중심으로

  • Sang Chang Lee (Chungnam National University Graduate School of New Drug Discovery and Development) ;
  • Byungkwon Lim (Chungnam National University Department of Technology Convergence) ;
  • Chun-Kyu Kim (Chungnam National University Graduate School of New Drug Discovery and Development)
  • 이상창 (충남대학교 신약전문대학원) ;
  • 임병권 (충남대학교 기술실용화융합학과) ;
  • 김천규 (충남대학교 신약전문대학원)
  • Received : 2023.11.16
  • Accepted : 2023.12.19
  • Published : 2023.12.31
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Abstract

This paper investigates the financial factors affecting angel investors' investment decisions for 818 firms from 2009 to 2018 in the Korean venture investment market. We construct a quasi-experimental design using propensity scoring matching and compare the investment determinants between investment firms and matching firms. The main empirical findings are as follows. First, we find that angel investors are more likely to choose firms based on a firm's growth such as profit and assets rather than profitability or financial stability. In addition, we identify that they prefer the firm not only higher intangible assets but also higher R&D expenditures. Second, we find that angel investors consider both growth and activity ratios in the firms for over three years and have entered the mid-stage of startups. Overall, we confirm that the investment decision of angel investors mainly focuses on the venture startups' growth trend or future growth potential rather than the realized profitability or financial stability. We also infer that the possibility of performance creation is an important investment factor along with growth for the mid-stage startup.

최근 벤처기업 육성을 위한 제2벤처 붐 확산 등에 힘입어 전문투자자 뿐만 아니라 일반 개인까지 스타트업 시장에 대한 관심이 증가하고 있다. 이와 같은 투자자 다변화에 따라 최근 엔젤투자자를 대상으로 다양한 연구가 진행되고 있으나 그들의 투자기업 선정 시 어떠한 요인을 고려하는지에 대해서는 주로 설문조사를 기반으로 연구가 이루어진 상황이다. 따라서 엔젤투자자가 실제로 투자한 기업내역을 토대로 그들이 어떠한 기업특성을 고려하는지에 대해 보다 엄정하게 고찰할 필요가 있다. 본 연구는 첫쨰, 엔젤투자자의 투자결정에 있어 어떠한 재무적 특성이 영향을 미치는지를 분석하였다. 둘째, 스타트업의 업력을 기준으로 창업 초기 또는 창업 중기단계 이후의 기업을 구분한 후 세부적인 분석을 수행하였다. 본 연구의 주요 분석결과를 요약하면 다음과 같다. 첫째, 엔젤투자자의 투자기업 선정에 있어 수익성이나 안정성보다는 순이익증가율이나 자산증가율과 같은 성장성 측면이 중요한 요인으로 작용하였다. 또한, 무형자산과 R&D 비중이 높을수록 투자기업을 선택할 가능성이 높은 것으로 확인된다. 둘째, 엔젤투자자의 투자기업 선정을 위한 재무적 요인에 있어 업력이 3년을 초과하여 본격적으로 창업 중기단계에 진입한 기업에서는 성장성 뿐만 아니라 활동성 측면도 투자결정에 영향을 미치는 것으로 나타났다. 종합하면, 엔젤투자자의 투자의사 결정은 기 실현된 수익성 보다는 스타트업의 성장세나 향후 성장 가능성에 중점을 두고 행해지는 것으로 판단된다. 또한, 창업 중기 이후의 기업은 성장성과 함께 실질적인 성과창출 가능성도 중요한 투자결정 요인인 것으로 추론해 볼 수 있다. 본 연구는 엔젤투자자가 실제로 투자한 내역을 기초로 다양한 스타트업의 재무적 특성을 고려하여 그들의 투자결정에 어떠한 측면이 중요하게 작용하는지를 실증적으로 규명하였다는 점에서 연구의 의의가 있다.

Keywords

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