Companies that received some government support outperformed those backed purely by private venture capital in recent years, according to new research that conflicts with recent reports by other bodies.

Enterprises that received up to half of their venture capital funding from governments outperformed rivals backed purely by private venture capital and also those with over 50% of government backing; both in terms of value on exit and patent creation, according to a report published today by the World Economic Forum, the Switzerland-based, non-profit foundation.