Nachhaltige Start-ups und Venture Capital

Sustainable start-ups are driving forces of economic transformation, yet their financing poses significant challenges for contractual design. Nina U. Czubayko examines how venture capital agreements can be structured to reconcile the tension between financial return and sustainability.

Numerous sustainable finance regulations aim to transform the economy towards greater sustainability. The start-up ecosystem fosters innovation and secures economic growth, and therefore plays a central role in steering the economy in a more sustainable direction. As a key source of funding for start-ups, venture capital can thus play a significant role in promoting the development of sustainability-oriented companies. At the same time, financing sustainable start-ups through venture capital faces considerable challenges in terms of structuring. These arise from the conflict between profit maximisation as the primary interest of investors on the one hand, and the pursuit of broader societal benefits on the other. Against this background, Nina U. Czubayko examines which contractual mechanisms can be used to promote environmental, social and governance (ESG) considerations in venture capital financing and to mitigate conflicts of interest between the parties involved. At the core of the study is a law-and-economics analysis of the interests and incentive structures of founders and venture capital investors, as well as the regulatory effects of various financing clauses in the funding of sustainable start-ups. In doing so, the author draws in particular on approaches from New Institutional Economics and incorporates empirical findings, including results obtained through guideline-based expert interviews conducted by the author herself. The central thesis of the work is that founders and venture capital investors already have at their disposal the appropriate contractual tools to promote social and environmental objectives through private autonomy. The study provides the financing parties with concrete options for structuring contracts in order to embed sustainability within the company.

Einleitung
§ 1 Untersuchungsanlass
§ 2 Untersuchungsgegenstand
§ 3 Einordnung in den aktuellen Forschungsstand
§ 4 Methodik
§ 5 Gang der Untersuchung
Kapitel 1: Grundlagen
§ 1 Begriffe
§ 2 Grundlagen der Venture Capital-Finanzierung
§ 3 Nachhaltige Gründungen und sustainable finance-Regulierung
§ 4 Fazit
Kapitel 2: Interessenlage der Parteien und Herausforderungen bei der Finanzierung nachhaltiger Start-ups
§ 1 Die ökonomischen Verhältnisse bei der Finanzierung nachhaltiger Start-ups
§ 2 Die Interessen des Venture Capital-Fonds
§ 3 Die Interessen der Gründer nachhaltiger Start-ups
§ 4 Fazit
Kapitel 3: Ausgleich der Interessen und Förderung von ESG-Belangen durch Gestaltungen der Venture Capital-Finanzierungspraxis
§ 1 Untersuchungsebenen und Bewertungskriterien
§ 2 ESG-Geschäftsleiterpflichten und Gründerhaftung
§ 3 ESG-Transparenzregime und Informationspflichten
§ 4 Implementierung einer nachhaltigen corporate governance des Start-ups
§ 5 Stimm- und Zustimmungsrechte des nachhaltigen Investors
§ 6 Staffelung der Investition anhand von ESG-Meilensteinen
§ 7 Der nachhaltige Exit aus dem Portfoliounternehmen
§ 8 Nachhaltige mezzanine Venture Capital-Finanzierung
§ 9 Bewertung der Gestaltungsmöglichkeiten des Venture Capital-Vertragswerks zur Finanzierung nachhaltiger Start-ups
Ergebnisse und Ausblick
§ 1 Ergebnisse
§ 2 Ausblick

• By (author) Nina U. Czubayko