Equity crowdfunding breaks barriers for some, but biases persist among investors.
Equity crowdfunding can help some underrepresented entrepreneurs get funding, but not all. Crowd investors and professional investors may have different preferences, leading to disparities in funding. Startups funded by crowd investors tend to have similar characteristics to those funded by professionals, but equity crowdfunding can reduce barriers for entrepreneurs with shared backgrounds in education, profession, region, and industry. However, biases based on gender and race still exist among crowd investors.