Investments in new ventures are risky due to lack of conventional form of quantitative information and untested products. Venture capitalists (VCs) are seen to target such new ventures for high-risk premium but with little success. Existing research has investigated and identified a variety of qualitative factors that impact VCs’ investment decisions; however, many research gaps still exist. Works published in the last two decades show the evolution in the preference of factors with the focus shifting from venture’s team and product to factors such as intellectual property rights, economic crisis and social capital. It was found that the factor’s role was limited to the binary scale (positive and negative), which undermines its effect. The purpose of this review is to provide a comprehensive framework of factors that influence VCs’ investment decisions and show theoretical research gaps. Accordingly, we have segmented factors into two macro-categories: ‘internal’ and ‘external environment’, and presented a detailed framework of the factors that influence VCs’ investment decisions. Further, we argue to consider the subjectivity of qualitative factors and to explore the role of a factor in the decision-making.

由于缺乏传统形式的定量信息和未经测试的产品，对新企业的投资存在风险。风险资本家 (VC) 被视为以高风险溢价为目标瞄准此类新企业，但收效甚微。现有研究已经调查并确定了影响风险投资决策的各种定性因素；然而，许多研究空白仍然存在。近二十年来发表的作品显示了因素偏好的演变，重点从风险投资的团队和产品转移到知识产权、经济危机和社会资本等因素。结果发现，该因子的作用仅限于二元尺度（正负），这削弱了其效果。本综述的目的是提供一个全面的影响风险投资决策的因素框架，并显示理论研究空白。因此，我们将因素分为两个宏观类别：“内部”和“外部环境”，并提出了影响风险投资决策的因素的详细框架。此外，我们认为要考虑定性因素的主观性，并探讨一个因素在决策中的作用。