Betting on Gender: A Multiple Case Study on the Motivations & Strategies of Venture Capital Gender Lens Investing

Abstract

Venture Capitalists today are seeing the value in incorporating gender analysis into their investment processes to promote gender equity within private funding practices. This has given rise to the topic of gender lens investing, addressing gender barriers in equity investments. This research aims to systematically study the efforts of venture capital funds in initiating institutional change through the adoption of a gender lens approach. Using empirical data from semi-structured interviews, the study presents four narrated fund profiles that represent varying gender lens logics: the Opportunist, the Strategic Philanthropist, the Protagonist and lastly, the Mentor. Taking departure in institutional theory, a discussion is held on the interplay between motivations and strategies developed by each gender lens fund, ultimately stimulating institutional change. The study concludes that three out of four gender lens funds can be defined as institutional entrepreneurs, whereas the fourth is more complex by nature, leaning more towards a traditional venture capital impact fund. This lays the groundwork for the novel topic of gender lens investing, and how it may come to impact the institutional structure of venture capital today.