This paper empirically establishes the role played by the ecosystem related parameters in the emergence and growth of high technology start-up clusters in India. It is mainly based on secondary data from six major start-up hubs in India during the period 2005-2013. Our results throw up several interesting findings. First of all, we find that traditional infrastructure related factors or robust macroeconomic situation in general are not the most important drivers. What really seem to matter are the specific start-up ecosystem related factors -such as the Internet penetration, volume of deal flow, availability of VC funding and a pre-existing critical mass of relevant high technology businesses and skill-sets. Above all, our study points out that high economic growth alone will not automatically lead to spillovers in the form of a vibrant start-up ecosystem. Rather it has to be a product of conscious and concerted policy efforts at all levels that directly address the main challenges faced by the early-stage start-ups.

Industrial clusters can be sources of innovation. Further, externalities rendered by clusters entitled firms in clusters to various economic benefits. The motivation of the study is to understand what determines the net benefits that these cluster firms receive. While innovation is a key driver of firm performance, it has not been probed adequately in the context of a cluster. The present study which draws data from 101 technology intensive manufacturing firms in Bengaluru cluster adopts stratified random sampling technique. The study employs Fuzzy-set Qualitative Comparative Analysis (fsQCA) to examine the influence of firm-level innovation on performance, considering the role of various firm-specific factors in moderating the relationship between innovation and performance. The results of the study reveal that there does not exist any direct relationship between innovation and firm performance. However, a strong and nonlinear relationship between them is moderated by firm-specific factors such as firm size, nature of Industry, origin of a firm and firms’ age. The findings of the study have brought out an important lesson for policy makers that mere promotion of industrial clusters does not ensure the generation of innovations by firms located therein, for their benefit. A cluster focused innovation promotion policy has to consider industry/firm-specific characteristics for its effective implementation.

Syndication or co-investment is a potent way of pooling resources among peer Venture Capital (VC) firms. This is even more vital for Foreign VC firms (FVCFs) when investing in destinations that are geographically distant from their countries of origin. Although FVCFs are relatively abundantly endowed in terms of financial capital, they are distinctly disadvantaged in terms of their social capital when investing in geographies that are distinctly different in terms of their institutions, norms, and culture from their own. One of the ways in which FVCFs overcome this impediment is by investing in human resources that serve as a bridge between their financial and social capital. Accordingly, the primary aim of this study is to investigate the relationship between the resources of FVCFs and their syndication intensity. Using the technique of logistic regression, we arrive at several interesting findings. FVCFs with a greater proportion of investment executives with prior founding experience in India and those with lower proportions of professionals of Indian origin demonstrate lower syndication intensity. Similarly, the syndication intensity diminishes with the increase in size of the investing team. FVCFs with greater fund size demonstrate a lower need for syndication. Greater endowment of social capital as proxied by the age of the VC firm is seen to enhance the syndication intensity.

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