US: Department of Justice Antitrust Division to Co-Host Workshop on Venture Capital Investment and Antitrust Law with Stanford University

The Department of Justice and Stanford University will hold a public workshop on Feb. 12, 2020, to explore the intersection between venture capital and antitrust law. The full-day workshop will discuss trends in venture capital investment from the 1990s through present, with a focus on what antitrust enforcers can learn from investors about how to identify nascent competitors in markets dominated by technology platforms. The workshop will also address proposed solutions to concerns that competitive alternatives to the market-leading platforms are not attractive investment opportunities. 

The Justice Department’s Antitrust Division and the Stanford Graduate School of Business will co-host the workshop, which will bring together venture capitalists, academics from both law and business, and other tech industry stakeholders. The Antitrust Division and Stanford intend to explore the practical considerations that early stage investors face when calculating the risks of investing in a startup and exit strategies.

“The Antitrust Division is excited to partner with Stanford University on this workshop to learn from participants in the venture capital industry, who must predict the future of technology markets on a daily basis,” said Assistant Attorney General Makan Delrahim of the Justice Department’s Antitrust Division. “Private investment plays a critical role in the dynamic competition that characterizes many technology markets, and it is fundamental to our mission at the Antitrust Division that we understand how market conditions today affect incentives for that investment.”   

Full Content: DOJ

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