Beyond a One-Size-Fits-All Approach to Innovation Financing: A Framework for Adapting Financing Tools to The Technology Field of high-tech Firms

Document Type : Research paper

Authors

1 Assistant Professor of Management of Technology, National Research Institute Assistant Professor, Department of Technology and Innovation Policy; National Research Institute for Science Policy (NRISP).

2 Assistant Professor, Science, Technology and Innovation Financing Department, Science Policy Research Institute

3 M.Sc. in Science and Technology Policy, Imam Hossein Comprehensive University

10.22034/rahyaft.2026.12311.1665

Abstract

High-tech firms are incompatible with the conventional financing system due to their reliance on intangible assets, technological uncertainty, and long life-cycles. Despite the richness of theoretical literature in this field, the structural diversity of high-tech firms based on their technology field has received less attention in designing financing instruments; a gap that has led to a “one-size-fits-all” approach in the Iranian innovation financing system and has contributed to the inefficient resource allocation and the failure of innovative projects. In response, the present study proposes a multidimensional framework for mapping financing tools to knowledge-based technology field in the Iranian economy and what principles the logic of mapping is based on. The research methodology is two-stage: the content analysis stage includes the analysis of 48 scientific, policy, and institutional sources according to the Atride-Stirling thematic network model; the second phase includes validation, adjustment, and development of the framework through focus groups of ten experts from the three sides of supply, demand, and policy-making. Findings revealed three overarching themes: characteristics of financing tools, characteristics of technology field, and the mapping logic between them. This logic is based on four matching principles: time horizon, risk level, collateralization, and ecosystem maturity. The final framework maps nine knowledge-based technology fields to appropriate combinations of debt-based, asset-based, equity-based tools, and government grants. The theoretical contribution of the research is to introduce “technology field” as a key independent variable in theorizing innovation financing and to localize the international literature with regard to Iran’s contextual requirements (including the impact of sanctions on access to financing tools).

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