Environmental, social, and governance (ESG) issues continue to gain attention and have important consequences in both public and private firms. Despite the attention to how ESG affects the ability of ventures to obtain funding, the effect of ESG transparency of venture capitalists (VCs) has not been examined. This is particularly important because VCs’ ESG activities may be directly related to their ability to nurture and develop their portfolio firms. As a result, their disclosure in terms of ESG activities may impact how potential subsequent investors and portfolio firm entrepreneurs view the VCs. We apply a novel impression management perspective to the VC context to study how VCs’ ESG transparency affects their success. Because firm attributes and actions may affect the impressions that they convey, we further consider the moderating effects of the VCs’ investment in portfolio firms with the high likelihood of impact, the high likelihood of risk of harm, portfolio diversity, and whether the VC is women-led. We contribute to the literature on entrepreneurship in VC investments, impression management, and ESG transparency.
