Due Diligence and Risk Alleviation in Innovative Ventures—An Alternative Investment Model from Islamic Finance

Abstract

Risk is a big concern for anyone contemplating investing in new, especially innovative ventures. However, if successful, the returns can be extraordinary, serving as an impetus for many venture capitalists to provide greater funding. Still, many new ventures never see the end of the tunnel, and success stories are scant. The venture capital market is growing, yet many investors feel on edge when investing in new and innovative ventures. This paper is based on field survey data to evaluate the importance of risk and return components of an alternative venture investment approach called diminishing Musharakah (DM). DM has roots in Islamic modes of investment that are more suited for ventures with a higher risk profile. This paper focuses on four key ingredients, i.e., due diligence (DD), flexibility (Flex), moral hazard reduction (MHR), and risk reduction (RR) inherent in this mode of investment. All these components contribute towards the end goal of any investment, i.e., value enhancement (VE). DM is based on investment modes approved by Islamic law, called Shariah, and Islamic jurisprudence, called Fiqh. The analysis and the paper’s results show that the proposed model is perceived as flexible enough to accommodate a wide variety of investment possibilities. The model carries the potential to encourage venture investment through various stages of growth of a venture. The findings are based on original perception data through a field survey across a broad spectrum of banking users who were interested in alternative and Islamic modes of investment. Findings and analysis of the survey data strongly support our connotations. We propose that the Shariah-based investment model presented in this paper will bring a vast new market into play, i.e., the Islamic money market, thus providing greater venture financing possibilities. As a result, we hope that the number of successful venture investment projects will significantly increase over time as we put the proposed investment model into use.