Getting There and Getting In: How Mobility and Sorting Keep Women out of Top Startup Accelerators

Abstract

Startup accelerators are a leading gateway to venture capital, but top programs often require founders to relocate to a venture hub. From a hand-collected census of U.S. accelerator startups (2008-2011) followed for five years, we estimate a two-sided matching model that separates two channels behind the gender funding gap, geographic mobility and sorting across accelerator tiers. Women raise about 60% less than men over five years; the gap concentrates among non-relocating women, is largest at active-childrearing ages, and vanishes for relocators, while the mobility cost is near zero for men. Removing mobility frictions raises women's match quality but not their tier; reaching the high-funding top tier also requires removing the sorting disadvantage that women face. The 2012 JOBS Act eased the legal barrier and capacity grew tenfold, yet the U.S. VC dollar gap still tripled (2011-2020): closing it needs mobility, sorting, and capacity together.