Information Intermediation: The Role of Rating Platforms in the Financial Trajectory of Innovative Startups[Intermédiation informationnelle : le rôle des plateformes de notation dans la trajectoire financière des start-up innovantes]

This article examines the role of rating platforms as information intermediaries in the financial trajectory of innovative start-ups. Faced with strong knowledge asymmetry and structural uncertainty regarding their development potential, start-ups increasingly rely on rating mechanisms to make the quality of their projects visible to investors. The study shows that rating platforms perform multiple intermediation functions: they structure qualitative information provided by founding teams, evaluate intangible dimensions such as execution capacity, strategic coherence and technological maturity, and convert these elements into signals directed at investors. These mechanisms reduce information processing costs for finance providers and influence access to early-stage funding opportunities. The findings also highlight several limitations: dependence on agencies' internal methodologies, variability of scores due to criterion weighting, standardisation effects that may disadvantage certain entrepreneurial profiles, and the risk of over-valuing imperfect signals. The article thus provides an analytical perspective on the growing influence of rating platforms within the entrepreneurial ecosystem and underscores their impact on the shaping of financial trajectories for innovative start-ups.