Equity Crowdfunding Campaigns Research Articles

How relevant is the individual’s levels of innovativeness in the investment decisions in equity crowdfunding campaigns?

PurposeThis study investigates the relationship between the individual’s levels of innovativeness (ILI) and the individual’s intention to finance (IIF) an equity crowdfunding campaign to understand whether and to what extent individuals' personalities (IP) can foster crowdfunding success.Design/methodology/approachOLS models are applied based on survey data collected from 385 US and UK citizen respondents. Further, the baseline relationship between ILI and IIF is broken down on the basis of the interactions with two behavioral characteristics: proactive personality (PP) and openness to experience (OE).FindingsResults show a positive relationship between individual’s levels of innovativeness and the individual’s intention to finance an equity crowdfunding campaign. Furthermore, this relationship continues to be positive when moderators are introduced in the models, demonstrating that PP and OE are personal traits that strengthen the main relationship.Originality/valueOur findings contribute to enriching the stream of literature according to which equity crowdfunding is a helpful tool not only able to bridge the financial gap of companies during the first phase of their life cycle. The findings also contribute to the development of the innovation process, creating also a social identity within the crowdfunding community.

Unveiling the role of entrepreneurial teams in the equity crowdfunding journey

AbstractDespite the rapid spread of equity crowdfunding, the role and actions played by entrepreneurial teams in this context have been neglected; the few studies in this field adopted a static view and focused primarily on their signaling role in equity crowdfunding campaigns, compared to solo founders. This study adopts a dynamic view and extends current literature by exploring the underlying dynamics and the role of entrepreneurial teams in the entire equity crowdfunding journey. Our findings reveal that entrepreneurial teams play a crucial role in three phases of equity crowdfunding, namely, the pre-campaign, during the campaign, and post-campaign phases. In the first phase, entrepreneurial teams are crucial in enhancing entrepreneurial alertness, social media use, social capital, entrepreneurial openness, and reducing the perceived uncertainty. The analysis shows that entrepreneurial teams are determinant for the success of the equity crowdfunding campaigns for human capital signals, certifications, social media use, and increased social capital and communication activities. Finally, the results highlight that entrepreneurial teams have valuable importance in the post-campaign phases in terms of crowd involvement/management, social capital and knowledge/network exploitation, improved resource mobilization, and resilience/robustness. Notably, social capital has a dynamic effect on equity crowdfunding activities over time. The results of this research have several implications for theory and for practice. We also discuss the implications of our findings for adopting a team approach, for small businesses undertaking the equity crowdfunding journey, and for other actors including platform managers and prospective investors.

The role of lead investors in equity crowdfunding campaigns with a secondary market

The role of lead investors in equity crowdfunding campaigns with a secondary market

Motivations for Crowdinvesting in European Football Clubs

Considering the inconsistency in the literature on crowdinvestment motivations and the uniqueness of football club investors, the purpose of this study is to identify the motivation to invest in football clubs through equity crowdfunding. Following Churchill’s scale development procedure, it is found that those who crowdinvest in football clubs are fans who highly identify with these teams. The fans’ motivations include supporting the cause of the campaign, acquiring the status of a football club owner, and gaining rewards. These findings show the dominance of intrinsic motivations among crowdinvestors of European football clubs, providing evidence for compensatory activities assumed in self-determination theory, which is the theoretical framework for this research. Moreover, we devise a motivation scale that can be adopted in future research on equity crowdfunding for football clubs. For sports managers, the results offer practical recommendations for marketing communication and relationship marketing of equity crowdfunding campaigns by football clubs.

The role of entrepreneur’s experience and company control in influencing the credibility of passion as a signal in equity crowdfunding

ABSTRACT In this study, we focus on entrepreneurs’ passion as a signal in influencing fundraising success via equity crowdfunding. Moreover, we look at the role of entrepreneurs’ task-specific experience – industry and startup experience- and company control in influencing the credibility of passion as a signal. Through a text analysis of 606 equity crowdfunding campaigns in the UK, we found that entrepreneurs’ displayed passion positively influences funding success and that entrepreneurs’ startup experience reinforces the credibility of this signal, i.e., the impact of passion on fundraising success. Additionally, we found that when entrepreneurs retain more shares of the company, the influence of displayed passion on funding success is greater. Our study contributes to the crowdfunding literature highlighting the importance of entrepreneurs’ passion in influencing fundraising success via crowdfunding, and what influences the credibility of passion as a signal.

Participatory Governance as a Success Factor in Equity Crowdfunding Campaigns for Cultural Heritage

This study seeks to address a research gap about the role of participatory governance as a success factor in successful equity crowdfunding (ECF) campaigns in the cultural heritage sector. The research stems from calls coming from both equity crowdfunding and cultural heritage research. Concerning equity crowdfunding research, academics have pointed out the need for more research on specific economic sectors and topics related to governance. Concerning cultural heritage and equity crowdfunding, our investigation is in line both with the calls for differentiation of funding schemes that could increase the financial resilience of cultural heritage organizations and with the academic and policy debate on the need to promote engagement and participation, also through participatory governance. Via QCA (Qualitative Comparative Analysis), this research investigates the peculiarities and success factors of equity crowdfunding for cultural heritage, with a special focus on participatory governance. The results indicate that ECF campaigns in this field can raise more funds than the targeted ones if they propose participatory governance schemes and enhance emotional and cultural heritage-related signals, thus differentiating ECF in cultural heritage from ECF in other sectors.

The role of equity crowdfunding campaigns in shaping firm innovativeness: evidence from Italy

PurposeThis paper aims to contribute to the scientific debate concerning the impact of equity crowdfunding on the performance of crowdfunded firms after campaigning. To this aim, the purpose of this paper is to investigate the relationship between the characteristics of the campaign and the subsequent firm innovativeness.Design/methodology/approachThis study adopts a quantitative research approach to evaluate if the entrepreneurial choices affecting the characteristics of the equity crowdfunding campaigns have an impact on the post-campaign firm innovativeness.FindingsThe results of the models show that the campaign characteristics have a direct impact on the firm innovativeness, both in terms of offering and communication and the campaign performance.Originality/valueThis paper presents one of the first studies to investigate the relationship between the choice of campaign characteristics and the post-campaign firm innovativeness. As such, the study contributes to both the literature concerning start-up innovation and the literature about the impact of equity crowdfunding.

What makes equity crowdfunding successful in Japan? Testing the signaling and lack of financial literacy hypotheses

PURPOSE: The first objective of this study is to identify the factors that contribute to the success of equity crowdfunding (ECF) campaigns in Japan. We examined what makes a campaign successful using data from 217 campaigns conducted on FUNDINNO, Japan’s largest ECF platform, between February 2017 and May 2021. The second objective is to assess individual investors’ financial literacy based on the ECF campaign’s success or failure. This study is unique in that it focuses on funding method differences as well as the contents of the business plans disclosed in the ECF campaigns. In Japan, a common equity campaign and stock acquisition rights campaign are run on the same ECF platform, as if they were the same type of funding. Common stock and stock acquisition rights are treated differently by venture capitalists and other professional investors. By comparing the success or failure of the two Japanese projects, we can assess individual investors’ financial literacy after taking into account the project signals. METHODOLOGY: The “Signaling Hypothesis” and the “Lack of Financial Literacy Hypothesis” were tested. Nine and four variables were set as proxy variables for the Signaling Hypothesis and the Lack of Financial Literacy Hypothesis, respectively. This study first divides the qualitative data into success/failure dichotomies for the proxy variables that comprise the hypotheses and then uses a chi-square test to examine the composition ratio of each. The quantitative data among the hypotheses’ proxy variables are then tested for differences in means (t-test) and medians (Wilcoxon signed-rank test). Subsequently, we perform a probit analysis with the explained variable being “success (1)/failure (0)” and the explanatory variable being a proxy variable for the hypothesis. We begin with a probit analysis, and the Logit model is then introduced. Finally, a multiple regression analysis is run with the explained variables “fundraising rate” and “number of investors” and the hypothesized proxy variables as explanatory variables. FINDINGS: We found that the “number of directors” is an effective management ability indicator of ECF success. In terms of start-up fundamentals, investors appear to accept the signals “intellectual property”, “product releases” and “tax incentives.” Awards affected the size of the final funding round. In contrast, B2C companies negatively signaled to private investors. The proxy variable “in final year sales” was supported concerning the lack of a financial literacy hypothesis. Individual investors can be assumed to be financially literate if they perform due diligence. However, since “expected rate of return (Internal Rate of Return, hereafter abbreviated as IRR)” and “common stock dummy” are uncorrelated, we can conclude that they do not demonstrate financial literacy in “valuation,” nor whether or not the investment is profitable. Thus, individual investors’ financial literacy in the Japanese ECF can be considered to be limited. IMPLICATIONS: We have demonstrated which signals investors in Japan’s ECF campaigns respond to. These guidelines will be useful for future start-ups planning ECF campaigns. We were able to identify the lack of financial literacy among ECF individual investors. Therefore, for Japan’s equity capital market to grow in the future, individual investors’ financial literacy must be improved. ORIGINALITY AND VALUE: With very limited analysis in Asia, home to the world’s second- and third-largest stock markets, we have identified the factors behind the success of Japan’s ECF. Identifying success factors in a country like Japan, where many individual investors are extremely risk averse, will provide new insights. By comparing the success or failure of the two types of Japanese ECF projects (common equity projects and stock acquisition rights), we could test the financial literacy of individual investors, taking into account the project signals.

The Informational Role of Imagery in Financial Decision Making: A New Approach

What is the incremental information in imagery? This paper introduces the concept of visual attention and proposes a new methodology to identify the effect of information content provided in images, above and beyond that of contemporaneous textual information. Our objective (non-behavioral) approach introduces two sets of criteria for analyzing the effects of images - visual clarity and information content/reinforcement, which together inform individual investors in fi nancial decision making. This flexible methodology can be seamlessly integrated with various modern information processing techniques, from simple keyword matching to advanced semantic analysis or topic modeling. Applying our methodology to a hand collected data set of equity crowdfunding campaigns, we show that the existence of perceptible images is signi ficantly associated with greater investment, and that visual clarity measures are found to incrementally affect investor decision making after controlling for textual sentiment and fi nancial information. Speci fically, more vibrant (intense) images with more focal points are associated with higher funding. Importantly, we find that the information reinforcing dichotomy we propose is a key determinant of (limited) visual attention: informationally additive images are those for which visual clarity measures are signi ficant, and those which seem to be associated with greater investor attention and investment. Finally, the methodology we develop in this paper provides the groundwork for a new framework within which to discuss (limited) attention, information, news, and investor reactions in today's digital and visual age.

Success or failure in equity crowdfunding? A systematic literature review and research perspectives

Purpose This paper aims to provide a multidisciplinary framework that allows an integrated understanding of reasons of success or failure in equity crowdfunding (ECF), a Fintech digital innovation of the traditional entrepreneurial finance, defining a future research agenda. Design/methodology/approach A systematic literature review (SLR) has been conducted on 127 documents extracted from two multidisciplinary repositories (Elsevier’s Scopus and Clarivate Analytics Web of Science) for the period between 2015 and early 2022. After a systematized series of inclusion and exclusion criteria, in line with the objectives and conceptual boundaries, a final list of 32 peer-reviewed articles written in English was analyzed by the authors through a meta-synthesis and thematic analysis to identify the key themes and dominant concepts. Findings Results show that the body of literature is recent and fast growing. The proposed integrative framework of existing research indicates that the outcome of an ECF campaign is related to signals conveyed by entrepreneurs in the form of hard information (firm characteristics, financial information, business characteristics and project description) and soft information (intellectual capital, human capital, social capital and social media network), catalyzed by digital media that facilitate also personal interactions between entrepreneurs and investors. Similarly, external factors (investors and campaign characteristics, with the fundamental role of ECF platform managers in building trust between entrepreneurs and investors) allow for the alleviation of information asymmetries. The present study sheds light on which signal mechanisms are decisive in improving the outcome, taking into consideration various disciplines which follow different but complementary perspectives. Practical implications Entrepreneurs should adapt to the transition toward the digital era, exploiting alternative financial instruments and learning effective signaling strategies, within a large variety of skills requested. Platform managers can obtain more focused information on selected entrepreneurial projects more efficiently. Originality/value Although it is fast-growing, the field of research is very recent, still fragmented and limited to the perspective/discipline followed. This SLR is, to the best of the authors’ knowledge, the first multidisciplinary and integrative analysis of reasons that motivates success, or failure, of an equity-based crowdfunding campaign. The digital nature of ECF encourages future research to move toward more pioneering and unconventional theories and research methods. Hence, the authors add to the existing literature by proposing future patterns of research based on an integration of highly technological skills and behavioral/psychological approaches.

Governance and Success in U.S. Equity Crowdfunding

We propose three governance mechanisms pertinent to equity crowdfunding and campaign success through mitigating pronounced information asymmetries and agency problems. First, unlike IPOs for which the effect of Delaware incorporation has declined or disappeared over time, we propose Delaware incorporation matters a great deal for success in the new setting of equity crowdfunding. Second, we propose that security design is a critical tool for equity crowdfunding success and even more important than the limited 2-year financial statement disclosure. Third, we propose that platforms as intermediaries between entrepreneurs and investors play an important role in mitigating and sometimes exacerbating information asymmetries and agency problems. The population of equity crowdfunding campaigns from market inception in May 2016 to Q2, 2021 in the United States provides strong support for these propositions.

Sustainable business models as successful drivers in equity crowdfunding

AbstractEquity crowdfunding is a form of capital market concerning the online offering of private company securities to a group of people for investment. Over the years, it has emerged as a valid financing alternative for sustainability‐oriented startups to conventional sources of funding to support their establishment and growth. This research explores the role that the elements of sustainable business models (SBM), which creates, delivers, and captures value for all its stakeholders without depleting the natural, economic, and social resources it relies on, can play as success discriminants of equity crowdfunding campaigns. A configuration approach was selected, and Fuzzy Set Qualitative Comparative Analysis (fsQCA) was used to investigate the causal configurations of 33 crowdfunding campaigns posted on the six most popular Italian equity crowdfunding platforms from 2014 to 2020. The analysis revealed that the SBM elements, and combinations of them, can positively affect the outcome of a campaign. Results also show that negative outcomes may be primarily due to campaign‐related features, such as high minimum investment requirements and high funding target.

COVID-19 and entrepreneurial processes in US equity crowdfunding

ABSTRACT The COVID-19 pandemic brought about a shift in entrepreneurial opportunities in the United States. In this paper, we proxy entrepreneurial processes by examining housing prices in different regions of the United States. Housing prices capture the movement in people, tax dynamics, and behavioral preferences for equity ownership in different regions and over time, all of which were drastically impacted by COVID-19. We examine all US equity crowdfunding offerings starting with the very first offerings in 2016 Q2 until 2021 Q1 based on data from the Securities and Exchange Commission. The data indicate that regional housing prices post-COVID-19 are a strong predictor of the number of equity crowdfunding campaigns and the amount of capital raised. Moreover, the impact of housing price changes on crowdfunding is more pronounced among more prosperous regions. The housing price effect is robust to numerous controls and consideration of outliers.

Equity Crowdfunding: The Influence of Perceived Innovativeness on Campaign Success

AbstractThis paper examines the impact of perceived innovativeness on the success of equity crowdfunding campaigns. Building on the investor perspective, we hypothesize a positive impact of perceived innovativeness on the campaign outcome. Our database covers 191 campaigns launched in France on different platforms, drawing on over 2,000 individual assessments of the perceived innovativeness of the start‐ups involved, carried out by 176 participants with diverse backgrounds. We find support for our hypothesis from the investor perspective in that highly innovative projects attract more crowd investors and, in turn, raise more capital. We contribute to the understanding of how the crowd makes investment choices.

Examination of the success drivers of equity crowdfunding campaigns in Malaysia

PurposeThis study aims to investigate the drivers of successful equity crowdfunding campaigns in Malaysia.Design/methodology/approachData for this study are collected manually from 5 different equity crowdfunding platforms in Malaysia. A total of 101 campaigns are analyzed, out of which the final sample used for this study is 97. The relationships are analyzed via ordinary least squares multiple regression analysis.FindingsThe results of the analysis show that minimum funding target, minimum investment required, pre-money valuation and length of pitch video are highly significant in influencing the success of the campaign. Percentage of equity retained is only significant at the 10% level. The size of the project team and the text length of the pitch are found to be insignificant. In addition, all the variables, except for equity retained and the minimum investment required, are found to have a positive impact on the success of an equity crowdfunding campaign in Malaysia.Originality/valueTo the best of the authors’ knowledge, this is the first study that investigates the success factors of equity crowdfunding campaigns in a developing country such as Malaysia. In addition, this study contributes to the literature on equity crowdfunding success via the inclusion of less-studied variables such as pre-money valuation and minimum investment required.

Is there a gender gap in equity-based crowdfunding?

Compared to their male peers, female entrepreneurs tend to face greater obstacles in raising venture funding from business angels, venture capitalists, and financial institutions. In this paper, we investigate whether this gender gap also exists in equity crowdfunding. Based on data from the German equity crowdfunding market, we find that ventures with and without female managing directors are equally successful in raising capital when launching their first equity crowdfunding campaign. In contrast, the former are significantly less successful than their peers in seasoned equity crowdfunding campaigns, and this disparity cannot be fully explained by differences in other venture-related or entrepreneur-related characteristics. However, we also find that the gender gap in seasoned offerings narrows if female entrepreneurs set more ambitious funding thresholds. Overall, our results indicate that pitching their equity crowdfunding campaigns in a more promotion-oriented way is a sensible strategy for female entrepreneurs to improve funding success.

Equity crowdfunding, market timing, and firm capital structure

Finance studies on the impact of market timing (or “windows of opportunity”) have almost exclusively focused on publicly traded firms and initial public offering firms. We provide first-time evidence on the impact of market timing on the capital structure of private firms that raise initial equity crowdfunding (ECF). We capture market timing by differentiating between ECF campaigns launched in hot markets, characterized by high ECF volumes, versus cold markets. Our sample includes firms financed via either Crowdcube or Seedrs, the two largest UK ECF platforms. Consistent with the idea of hot markets serving as windows of opportunity, we find that in hot markets, ECF firms set higher targets, collect more overfunding, and thus raise more equity capital than ECF firms in cold markets. Surprisingly, however, and inconsistent with a market timing theory of capital structure, we fail to find differences between the leverage ratios of hot- and cold-market firms from the year of the ECF campaign. This finding is explained by hot-market ECF firms contemporaneously rebalancing their capital structure by attracting more debt, especially financial debt. We discuss the theoretical and practical implications of these findings.

Gender stereotypes in equity crowdfunding: the effect of gender bias on the interpretation of quality signals

Equity crowdfunding has the potential to democratize entrepreneurial finance and provide female entrepreneurs with new and equal access to early-stage financing. In this paper, we present first empirical evidence on gender stereotypes in the context of technology ventures in equity crowdfunding. Drawing on signaling and gender role congruity theory, we hypothesize that quality signals have different effects depending on whether they are sent by male or female entrepreneurs. Results taken from a sample of 263 equity crowdfunding campaigns run by technology ventures confirm our hypotheses. In line with gender stereotypes, management experience is beneficial for male entrepreneurs but detrimental for female entrepreneurs. Interestingly, media coverage as a third-party signal has the oppositive effect, being more effective for female entrepreneurs.

Fundraising activities and digitalization: defining risk indicators for evaluating equity crowdfunding campaigns

PurposeThe wide development of digital platforms permitted the birth of new financing modalities, namely, crowdfunding, where the crowd of individuals and investors can supply the necessary financial resources for venture creation and growth. While the extant literature has focused on analyzing the dynamics and features of crowdfunding campaigns, few studies have focused on understanding how crowd investors decide which ventures to invest in and which factors influence their decision-making process. Due to this gap, the purpose of this paper is to analyze the factors influencing the choice to invest in an equity crowdfunding campaign, by defining a set of indicators useful to evaluate the risk of the campaign.Design/methodology/approachAn empirical research study of Italian equity crowdfunding campaigns has been conducted to identify quantitative indicators useful for evaluating the risk in a crowdfunding campaign.FindingsFindings demonstrate that the risk indicators proposed to represent important gauges that investors can usefully consider ex ante to assess the degree of riskiness of the investment in the equity crowdfunding campaign.Research limitations/implicationsThe limitations of the study regarding the size of the sample that is small due to the necessity to extract enough information in pre and post-equity campaigns. Also, the lack of historical data is another limitation.Originality/valueThe originality of the studies relies on the proposal of quantitative indicators for the evaluation of the risk in equity crowdfunding campaigns for “crowd” investors to reduce information asymmetries.

Responding to the Crowd: How Online Investor-Entrepreneur Discussions Inform Crowdfunding Decisions

Based on the analysis of a unique dataset comprising 276 equity crowdfunding campaigns, we propose that interactive forum discussions between potential investors and entrepreneurs serve as a strong signal of a new venture's quality. The results show that these dialogues play an essential role in campaign performance and that the importance of different topics raised by investors evolves throughout a campaign. As these online discussions are impromptu and initiated by the crowd, responding to investor queries is an important aspect of managing an equity crowdfunding campaign. We discuss the implications of our results for research and practice.