Are Venture Capitalists and Business Angels Biased Against Female Entrepreneurs?

Many observers have argued that venture capitalists and business angels are biased against female entrepreneurs. Academics, however, have found those claims hard to substantiate. The main evidence for bias – that only a small fraction of entrepreneurs receiving venture capital and angel money are women – is unconvincing. Female entrepreneurs might find it difficult to tap these funding sources because women tend not to start the kinds of businesses that VCs and angels are looking to back, a pattern that statistics also show.

However, a recent paper by Lyda Bigelow and Robert Wuebker of the University of Utah provides some solid evidence that investors are biased against female entrepreneurs.

By Scott Shane

Full Story: http://smallbiztrends.com/2011/02/are-venture-capitalists-and-business-angels-biased-against-female-entrepreneurs.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+SmallBusinessTrends+%28Small+Business+Trends%29