Over the five years prior to the financial crisis, global private equity and venture capital investments grew exponentially. Private equity firms and funds are becoming increasingly important actors in emerging markets: they act as a source of financing for new enterprises and as growth capital for existing ones, as owners and managers of portfolio companies, and as employers for both management and labor.

Over the five year period from 2003 to 2008, private equity and venture capital investments have grown exponentially, both globally and in emerging markets, making private equity firms and funds increasingly important actors in emerging markets. In this paper, we examine the hypothesis that private equity firms in emerging markets are entrepreneurial—i.e., are more focused on creating new firms or growing and globalizing existing ones, based on a case study of Egypt.