It is claimed that investors show little interest in rural entrepreneurs, implying that rural firms have difficulties in attracting capital for business development. One reason could be that banks, venture capitalist and other financiers are located in urban areas and, therefore, lack knowledge of rural opportunities. The EU Regional Development Fund includes financial instruments aiming at promoting entrepreneurship, developing new business models, and supporting the capacity to grow and to engage in innovation processes for small and medium size enterprises. This project reviews the literature to investigate whether financial markets functions poorly for rural firms and if there are evidence of whether the financial instruments can improve the situation.
The project will be finalised in autumn 2019.