-In several countries including Canada, public policies related to the financing of emerging companies involve numerous programs and large amounts of money. Major problems remain in this area, and government efforts are not always successful. In April 2010, a symposium entitled "Entrepreneurial finance and Venture capital" was organized in Montréal, drawing about 60 researchers from 18 countries. We summarize several presentations, keynote addresses and panel session discussions. We select the most relevant work from the point of view of Canadian public policies about small business finance. Three important conclusions emerged. First, the rate of return of private equity and venture capital is low; institutional investors are now reluctant to invest in this asset class. Second, the increasing rarity of IPOs (initial public offering) is likely to limit the more profitable exits in the venture capital industry. Third, conceiving and implementing public policy that favours small business finance is a challenging task.