Women seeking financing for startups are perceived as more trustworthy by crowdfunding investors

While men have benefited from a gender bias against women when seeking financing for business startups, the opposite might be true for female entrepreneurs seeking initial investment through crowdfunding efforts, according to research from Indiana University’s Kelley School of Business.

Historically, female-led ventures have found it difficult to procure private equity, bank financing and venture capital, often because of psychological stereotypes inferring that business leaders should be masculine. But an article in print at the Journal of Business Venturing reports that gender bias may make crowdfunding investors more likely to invest in new ventures led by women.

“Our results show that on average, crowdfunders think female entrepreneurs are more trustworthy than male entrepreneurs,” said Regan Stevenson, an assistant professor of management and entrepreneurship at Kelley. “These judgments increase overall investment in female-led ventures over male-led ventures.”

A news release about Stevenson’s findings is available online.