How can women entrepreneurs overcome funding challenges: the role of digitalization and innovation

Abstract

Entrepreneurs must overcome various hurdles that pose a threat to starting or growing their businesses. For example, women entrepreneurs face challenges including gender differences, entrepreneurial financing, innovation processes, and commercialization of technology. One avenue to enhance the accessibility of financial support and promote entrepreneurship via digitalization is to counteract or diminish the biases seen in traditional sources of funding for entrepreneurs belonging to ethnic or gender minority groups, including women-owned small and medium-sized enterprises. We propose that additional research is needed to account for the context of the Fourth Industrial Revolution and multi-level factors that may influence a women entrepreneur’s decision to obtain financing including digital skills and women-focused resource groups. We outline a typology of attributes and subsequent impacts for how to obtain financing and extend the discussion of how the evolving entrepreneurial ecosystem include a multitude of financing alternatives. Future research and policies should incorporate the evolving and expansive investment opportunities within the context of the digital entrepreneurial environment to help the advancement of women-led businesses.