Entrepreneurial Finance: From Startup to Scale-up - A European perspective

Report (2026)
Author(s)

Michael Peeters (TU Delft - Architecture and the Built Environment)

Research Group
Real Estate Management
DOI related publication
https://doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.6420958 Final published version
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Publication Year
2026
Language
English
Research Group
Real Estate Management
Publisher
SSRN
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Abstract

Every entrepreneurial venture, regardless of how innovative its technology or compelling its value proposition, ultimately depends on its ability to secure, manage, and allocate financial resources. The most brilliant product idea will fail if the founding team cannot fund product development, sustain operations through early revenue shortfalls, or scale production to meet market demand. Finance is the lifeblood of any business, and for startups, it determines whether an enterprise will survive long enough to achieve product–market fit.

This course text introduces master’s students to the financial architecture of entrepreneurial ventures with a specific emphasis on the European context. While much of the global entrepreneurial finance literature draws on American examples and institutions, European founders operate within a distinctly different ecosystem, one shaped by bank-oriented financial systems, strong regulatory frameworks, and a capital market infrastructure increasingly integrated through the European Union’s (EU) Capital Markets Union initiative.

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