Signalling for success: Subsequent grant support and female-founded university spinouts

Abstract

This article adopts a signalling perspective to explore how grant-backed university spinouts (USOs) can deploy signals to mitigate information asymmetries and secure subsequent access to grant support. We theorise that grant-backed USOs can signal their capability through the spinout portfolio of the parent university and timing of the initial grant. Given the gendered nature of academic entrepreneurship, we analyse whether, and how, access to, and signalling for, subsequent grants may differ in female-founded USOs. Using data on UK USOs, our results suggest that the initial grant timing of a grant-backed USO is a valuable signal for both female- and male-founded USOs. We find that being female-founded does not significantly influence grant-backed USO subsequent grant access. Our study contributes novel insights on how grant-backed USOs can signal to overcome information asymmetries and access subsequent grant support, and on the role of founder gender in follow-on financing.