What start-up firms are more likely to obtain public funding support? A systematic analysis of the funding program promoted by the Abruzzo Region in Italy

The chapter aims to investigate the profile of start-up firms, in terms of features of the entrepreneur and entrepreneurial project, with regard to their likelihoods of obtaining support through public funding. Using data of 214 start-ups applied to the public call for the funding program implemented with the 2013-2016 "Start-Up Start-Hope” program promoted by the Abruzzo Region in Italy and funded by the European Social Fund, the main result from the estimated logistic model is that, generally, the key factor determining the probability of receiving public funding support is the entrepreneurs’ age. Specifically, older entrepreneurs and entrepreneurial teams have a lower probability to be awarded by the public program compared to younger ones. Nevertheless, the other project and firm selected variables for the analysis (firm size, project value and type of financing based on the stage development of the firm) are not significant factors determining the probability of receiving public funding support.