Female entrepreneurs often face disadvantages when seeking financial resources due to their limited network access compared to male counterparts. We contend that angel investment platforms offer a solution to this issue by providing female entrepreneurs with equal exposure to potential investors and opportunities to form investment ties. Utilizing the data for 3,040 startups and 61,178 screening records from investors on an angel investment platform in China, we find that female entrepreneurs benefit more from platform exposures compared to male entrepreneurs because they are more excel at building trust. The positive interaction between platform exposures and female entrepreneurs on angel investors’ evaluation is weakened by female entrepreneurs’ prior network resources, as reflected in their career experiences, and strengthened by startups’ track records and their usage of communal language. Our study contributes to female entrepreneurship research by addressing the structural disadvantages of females in financing and highlighting the critical role of investment platforms in promoting gender equality.
