Une caractérisation des trajectoires de croissance des start-up au travers de leur taille et de leur mode de financement. Le cas des entreprises soutenues par le ministère de l’Enseignement Supérieur, de la Recherche et de l’Innovation

In the current context of economic crisis that we are experiencing, the development of new technology-based firms (NTBF) is one of the levers that can help our economy return to growth. Various mechanisms are used by the French government to facilitate the creation and growth of such firms. This study aims to examine the growth path of an NTBF population that has been supported by the French Ministry of Higher Education, Research, and Innovation. In addition to conventional variables relating to the size of the company, such as revenue, this work uses indicators that reflect the means of funding assets by NTBFs in order to characterize their growth paths. While size indicators enable us to study past growth, modelling the means of funding makes it possible to identify future dynamics too. The results, based on a typological analysis, highlight two main points. Firstly, only 30 percent of the NTBFs studied are experiencing real growth dynamics and even fewer become medium-sized enterprises. Furthermore, among those NTBFs experiencing real growth, two typical paths are identified: a ?traditional? business path and a ?scissor? cash burn path. We show that growth paths for NTBFs are rare, despite the fact that they benefit from public support.