Mind the Gap: Gender Stereotypes and Entrepreneur Financing

Abstract

I examine gender differences in external equity financing using administrative data on the population of start-ups in France. Female-founded start-ups are 27% less likely to raise external equity including venture capital. However, the gender funding gap reverses in female-dominated sectors, where female entrepreneurs are more likely to raise funding than male entrepreneurs. Moreover, I show that conditional on being backed with equity, entrepreneurs outperform in gender-incongruent sectors, suggesting that requirements for funding are higher for entrepreneurs that are minority in gender-incongruent sectors. The evidence is consistent with the existence of context-dependent stereotypes among investors.