Sandy Yu

Sandy Yu is an Assistant Professor in the Strategic Management & Entrepreneurship department at the University of Minnesota’s Carlson School of Management. Her research focuses on entrepreneurial fundraising and growth, particularly examining venture capital, accelerators, and crowdfunding.

• Education: PhD in Economics from New York University; MS and BS in Electrical Engineering from Stanford University.

Yu’s research delves into strategic challenges faced by entrepreneurs, with a current emphasis on how start-ups secure financing. She utilizes empirical studies to analyze the influence of accelerators and regional crowdfunding dynamics on entrepreneurial success.

Her recent publications highlight trends in high-tech venture financing, including the role of accelerators in enhancing start-up performance, regional variations in crowdfunding, and data-driven methodologies like the CrowdBerkeley Database to map entrepreneurial investment patterns.

Yu’s work has received support from the Kauffman Foundation and the National Science Foundation, underscoring her contributions to understanding entrepreneurial funding ecosystems.