As well as providing links to strategic thinkers and technical support, they offer a seal of approval that can attract further funds. These can be other entrepreneurs or other venture-capital firms. The firm has introduced Moreover to Sequoia, a Silicon Valley venture-capital firm. The idea of sharing a potentially profitable business with other venture capitalists strikes some European VCs as suspect. But the land-grab nature of the Internet means that it is worth sacrificing the size of one's stake in a firm to gain time.
Sharing means that venture capitalists can specialise, which also brings rewards.
Arts Alliance, a venture-capital group founded in 1977, with offices in London and New York, limits itself to business plans built around consumer applications of the Internet. It has backed Lastminute and ChateauOnline, a site selling wine. The firm restricts its business to Scandinavia, the Benelux countries and Israel, reflecting the nationalities of its founders, who reason that the cultural diversity of Europe demands such specialisation. Yet even if Europe now has capital and growing expertise, it still has a long way to go before becoming a high-tech powerhouse. Stockmarkets are a particular hurdle.