AI Start-up Financing: The Role of Academic Signals

Prof. Maggie Xiaoqing FU
Professor in Finance and
Business Economics
FBA, UM

Date: 14/10/2025 (Tuesday)
Time: 13:00 to 14:00
Venue: FBA Lobby

Abstract
Universities play a vital role in the development of artificial intelligence (AI). In the entrepreneurial finance literature, however, little attention has been paid to the role of academic signals in AI start-up financing. This study focuses on the financing gap between university spin-offs (USOs) and other start-ups in AI landscape. Our data capture with unusual richness of 3,907 AI start-ups worldwide, covering 9,234 transactions, with USOs manually identified. The results indicate that university origin represents a positive signal for AI start-ups in attracting VC financing and the signaling strength changes over funding stages, supporting the dynamic and temporal effect of this signal. We further find that the parent university’s reputation and entrepreneurial infrastructure reinforce the signaling value of university origin, affirming the simultaneous and interactive impact of multi signals. The results remain robust after a series of additional tests. Our findings provide meaningful policy implications for VC firms, entrepreneurial universities, and governments.

Speaker

Xiaoqing (Maggie) Fu is a Professor of Finance and Business Economics and the DBA Program Director at the Faculty of Business Administration, University of Macau. Her main research interests are in sustainable finance, responsible innovation, Fintech, banking, and corporate governance. She is the Associate Editor for the Journal of Chinese Economic and Business Studies that is published by Taylor & Francis. Her research has been published in Journal of Corporate Finance, Journal of World Business, Journal of Product Innovation Management, Journal of Banking and Finance, Economic Inquiry, Journal of International Financial Markets, Institutions, and Money, Journal of Business Research, International Business Review, Industrial and Corporate Change, etc. She also co-authored a book entitled “Bank Competition, Efficiency and Liquidity Creation in Asia Pacific” that was published by Palgrave Macmillan.

All are welcome!