It stands for hybrid venture capital fund; a venture capital (VC) fund that is funded from hybrid sources (public and private sectors) and/ or invests in hybrid venues and/ or follows hybrid styles of investing (active, passive). For example, a venture capital fund may be designed to appeal to government and non-government investors (such as pension funds, corporations and banks). Such funds may also be both publicly and privately funded.
In general, hybrid venture capital funds (HVCFs) are investment vehicles with a substantial public participation in the fund. In other words, these funds obtain a big proportion of its capital from public funding (public sector). Thus, funding by government can help the general fund managers (GMs) in obtaining sufficient levels of capital, so that a fund can avoid significant penal costs, while tapping to leveraging potential (which can help improve limited partners’ returns). The fund operates under governments would cover a government’s full or partial coverage of its possible losses while guaranteeing a minimum return to private investors.
