評論
打印
Business
商業
Ad space for equity
為股票做廣告
Air for shares
股票時間
Could an unusual venture-capital model be taking off?
一項不同尋常的風險投資模式能夠起飛嗎？
IN AMERICA, venture capital is plentiful.Not so elsewhere.
美國風險資金十分豐富，但是并非所有地方都是這樣。
In Europe, a handful of companies are helping struggling start-ups with an unusual model: investing advertising space in them instead of money.
在歐洲，一些公司正以非同尋常的模式幫助那些掙扎的新成立的公司：投資廣告版面而非直接投錢。
Start-ups usually get their initial seed funding-a few tens or hundreds of thousands of dollars-from family or friends.
新成立的公司通常從家人或朋友那里獲得初始的種子資金，通常是數萬或數十萬美元。
A venture-capital firm won't step in until the firm is ready to raise maybe ten times that amount.
只有公司籌集到了數百萬的資金時，風險投資才會介入。
In America, intermediate sums tend to come from informal "angel investors", typically entrepreneurs who have made a decent bit of money from their own start-ups and want to invest some in projects they like.
在美國，過渡的資金通常來自于非正式的天使投資者，特別是由新成立的公司發家且希望投資一些中意項目的企業家。
But outside America's technology hubs, such people are rare.
但是在美國科技中心之外，這樣的人少之又少。
However, start-ups of that size are often making their first baby steps into the market and need publicity.
然而，這樣規模的新成立的公司通常會邁著嬰兒步進入市場并需要廣告宣傳。
Aggregate Media Funds, a Swedish firm started in 2002, pools excess advertising space provided by 15 Swedish media companies that are shareholders in the fund, and gives it to start-ups in return for an equity stake (it also plans their marketing for them).
2002年成立的瑞典媒體公司媒體公基金集合了15家瑞典媒體提供的廣告版面，并且以交換股權的形式給予新成立的公司。（該公司還會為他們做市場規劃。）這15家媒體都是該基金的股東。
If the firms do well, they buy back the equity in cash, which goes to the shareholders, with a cut for the fund.
如果公司運作良好，他們就會用現金買回股權給予股東，并給基金一份利潤。
Patrik Rosen, Aggregate's boss, says it has made some 120 investments-in both start-ups and established firms that want to advertise a new product or a stock offering-and completed around 80 "exits", though he won't disclose how much money has been made.
公基金的老板帕特里克?羅森表示給公司已經做大約120筆投資，都是投在需要為新產品或發行股票的新成立的公司或已成型的公司，并完成了大概80個公司的"退市"，但是他并不會透露賺了多少錢。
Similar models have taken hold in Germany.
德國也興起了同樣的模式。
ProSiebenSat.1, a television company, has been offering other firms advertising in return for equity or revenue shares since 2009, and reported making more than
