Without innovation, a competitive economy cannot be successful in today’s world. And innovation needs to be financed. Such investments are often risky and thus require risk capital. As banks are not able to fund such projects sufficiently and effectively, a functioning capital market is required. However, the Austrian and the European capital markets suffer from some considerable shortages compared to their US peer. The implication is that entrepreneurship cannot be financed adequately and that society is oftentimes locked out from such return opportunities.