A Taxonomy for Technology Venture Ecosystems
47 Pages Posted: 9 Apr 2021 Last revised: 17 Sep 2021
Date Written: April 8, 2021
Abstract
We develop a taxonomy – Oxford Venture Ecosystem Taxonomy (OVET) -- to classify technology startup ventures along nine dimensions: (1) the area of work, (2) purpose of technology use, (3) technology stack, (4) platform business model, (5) type of clients, (6) value capture strategy, (7) founder and funder characteristics, (8) geographical footprint, and (9) funding cycle. This paper provides a theory and method for developing taxonomies, emphasizing the importance of clarifying the purpose for which a taxonomy is used and the determination of the appropriate level of abstraction. This approach is then applied to develop the OVET taxonomy in the context of specific sectors with AI use cases. We illustrate this application in four sectors, namely fintech, healthtech, lawtech, and proptech. In the last section, we discuss how such a taxonomy, enabling classifications and analytics, could provide valuable insights and improve the quality of decision-making by venture founders, investors, policy makers and other stakeholders in the venture ecosystem.
Keywords: entrepreneurship, taxonomy, venture ecosystem, fintech, lawtech, healthtech, proptech
JEL Classification: J24, L14, L16, L26, L84, L86, M13, O33
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