RCT of an Investment Readiness Program for Women Entrepreneurs in Armenia, Georgia and Kazakhstan

Last registered on March 23, 2026

Pre-Trial

Trial Information

General Information

Title
RCT of an Investment Readiness Program for Women Entrepreneurs in Armenia, Georgia and Kazakhstan
RCT ID
AEARCTR-0017418
Initial registration date
March 23, 2026

Initial registration date is when the trial was registered.

It corresponds to when the registration was submitted to the Registry to be reviewed for publication.

First published
March 23, 2026, 8:05 AM EDT

First published corresponds to when the trial was first made public on the Registry after being reviewed.

Locations

Region
Region
Region

Primary Investigator

Affiliation

Other Primary Investigator(s)

PI Affiliation
IFC
PI Affiliation
World Bank Group - IBRD
PI Affiliation
World Bank Group - IBRD
PI Affiliation
World Bank Group - IBRD
PI Affiliation
World Bank Group - IBRD
PI Affiliation
LSE

Additional Trial Information

Status
On going
Start date
2025-11-07
End date
2027-03-31
Secondary IDs
Prior work
This trial does not extend or rely on any prior RCTs.
Abstract
Central Asia and the South Caucasus are home to an emerging but still nascent PE/VC ecosystem: a handful of funded high-growth start-ups, a growing set of success stories—and a stark gender gap. Women-owned firms represent 31% of businesses in Kazakhstan, 27% in Armenia, and 22% in Georgia, yet they receive only a fraction of early-stage finance. In comparable Central and Eastern European markets, all-women founding teams captured just 2% of €2.4 billion in early-stage funding over the past five years, while 91% went to all-male teams. This underinvestment persists despite evidence that women-founded companies outperform male-founded ones by 96% in revenue-to-funding ratios. Women remain dramatically underrepresented in high-growth entrepreneurship worldwide. Social norms restrict access to networks and mentorship, and path dependence means early experience and success compound—yet many women never get the initial
foothold. This study assesses whether an Investment Readiness Program can help break that cycle for women entrepreneurs in Armenia, Georgia, and Kazakhstan. The program offers structured training and mentorship, with particular emphasis on AI-enabled product and customer testing, along with financial modelling, growth planning, customer discovery, and investor communication. We evaluate impact through a randomized controlled trial: top applicants are admitted directly, while remaining eligible applicants are randomly assigned to the program or a comparison group. This design identifies causal effects on investment readiness, sales, and entrepreneurial confidence. A complementary randomized information experiment tests how different messages influence application behaviour. Finally, some women-entrepreneurs are offered a training on AI-based tools.
External Link(s)

Registration Citation

Citation
Baheti, Daksh et al. 2026. "RCT of an Investment Readiness Program for Women Entrepreneurs in Armenia, Georgia and Kazakhstan." AEA RCT Registry. March 23. https://doi.org/10.1257/rct.17418-1.0
Experimental Details

Interventions

Intervention(s)
Intervention #1)
WeVenture Investment Readiness Program supports women-led startups in Armenia, Georgia, and Kazakhstan to strengthen their investment readiness, refine their business models, and build the capabilities needed to raise external capital. Through training, mentorship, and tailored advisory support, participating entrepreneurs are supported in becoming investor-ready and scaling their businesses.

Intervention #2)
Outreach emails are sent to potential applicants, where recipients are randomly allocated to one of 3 groups: The first group receives a standard email including information about the program, how to apply, and eligibility criteria. The second group receives the standard email and "de-biasing" information clarifying potential existing biases among women startups. The third group receives the standard email and the presentation of the success story of a relevant role model.

Intervention #3)
The third intervention offers a training on AI-based tools to women entrepreneurs.
Intervention Start Date
2026-02-15
Intervention End Date
2026-08-31

Primary Outcomes

Primary Outcomes (end points)
Change of ownership: Company was sold: yes/no, Amount of selling

Termination of business: Company is currently operating: yes/no

Business outcomes: Profit/loss in 2026, Sales in 2026, Sales outside of the country in 2026, Served markets/countries, Number of employees (total, newly hired, female, paid, non-paid) in 2026, Average monthly cost of personnel in 2026, Share of equity in firm that is currently already held by outside investor

Willingness and interest in taking on equity investment: WE is interested in equity financing for the business: yes/no, Maximum equity share willing to have held by outside investors, WE has specific deal terms to offer outside investors: yes/no, Would consider a royalty-based investment: yes/no, WE plans to look for equity financing in the next 1 (5) year(s) and from whom

General investability: Founder/co-founders work full-time in company: yes/no

Meeting the specific needs of investors: Accounts of the business separated from those of the owners, Revenue projection made for the next 12 months, Business knows customer acquisition costs, Amount of customer acquisition costs,

Steps towards receiving external funding and external financing received: WE has contacted outside investor in 2026 to see if they are interested in making an investment: yes/no, Type of outside investors contacted, For each type: {Amount requested by WE, WE has made a pitch to outside investors outside of the program in 2026: yes/no, WE entered into negotiations with outside investor: yes/no, WE has received third-party financing in 2026: yes/no, Amount of third-party financing received}, Amount at which WE value their companies, WE has taken on new debt and/or loans in 2026: yes/no, Sources of debt/loan, Amount of debt/loan

Product/service: Main product/service validated with real target customers in 2026: yes/no, Number of customers main product/service validated with, Main product/service modified based on customer testing results: yes/no

Entrepreneurial confidence: Confidence of WE to perform certain tasks/activities (measured on a 5-point likert-scale)

Challenges: Challenges that WE face in their ability to grow over the next 2 years (measured on a 5-point likert-scale)

Digital technologies: Usage of digital technologies: yes/no, Frequency of usage (daily, Once every two weeks, Monthly, Less than monthly, Do not use this technology


Primary Outcomes (explanation)

Secondary Outcomes

Secondary Outcomes (end points)
Secondary Outcomes (explanation)

Experimental Design

Experimental Design
Experiment #1)
We evaluate impact of WeVenture through a randomized controlled trial: top applicants are admitted directly, while remaining eligible applicants are randomly assigned to the program or a comparison group.

Experiment #2)
We evaluate impact of the email campaign through a randomized controlled trial: available email contacts of women entrepreneurs are randomly assigned to the comparison group, the treatment arm 1 or the the treatment arm 2.

Experiment #3)
We evaluate impact of the training on AI-based tools through a randomized controlled trial.
Experimental Design Details
Not available
Randomization Method
Randomization done in office by a computer
Randomization Unit
Women entrepreneur
Was the treatment clustered?
No

Experiment Characteristics

Sample size: planned number of clusters
N/A
Sample size: planned number of observations
Experiment #1) 292 women entrepreneurs Experiment #2) ~2,500 women entrepreneurs Experiment #3) ~150 women entrepreneurs
Sample size (or number of clusters) by treatment arms
Experiment #1)
139 women entrepreneurs control, 153 women entrepreneurs treatment

Experiment #2)
~830 women entrepreneurs control, ~830 women entrepreneurs treatment arm 1, ~830 women entrepreneurs treatment arm 2

Experiment #3) TBD
Option 1) 75 women entrepreneurs control, 75 women entrepreneurs treatment
Option 2) 50 women entrepreneurs control, 50 women entrepreneurs treatment arm 1, 50 women entrepreneurs treatment arm 2
Minimum detectable effect size for main outcomes (accounting for sample design and clustering)
IRB

Institutional Review Boards (IRBs)

IRB Name
The London School of Economics and Political Science - Research Ethics Review Board
IRB Approval Date
2025-12-05
IRB Approval Number
647120