TY - JOUR
T1 - Equity crowdfunding for sustainable oriented ventures
T2 - Lead investor impact on campaign success and post-campaign performance
AU - Del Sarto, Nicola
AU - Bellavitis, Cristiano
N1 - Publisher Copyright:
© 2025 Elsevier Inc.
PY - 2025/3
Y1 - 2025/3
N2 - This study examines how lead investors’ human capital influences equity crowdfunding (ECF) outcomes, focusing on campaign success and post-campaign performance, with a specific emphasis on Sustainable Oriented Ventures (SOVs). Using a two-step Heckman model on 508 Italian campaigns (2016–2020), we find that general human capital enhances campaign success universally, signaling credibility to investors. However, for SOVs, specialized human capital becomes critical post-campaign to navigate ESG complexities. In contrast, non-SOVs benefit consistently from general human capital across both stages. These results underscore the dual role of human capital in ECF, offering actionable insights for ventures with diverse orientations.
AB - This study examines how lead investors’ human capital influences equity crowdfunding (ECF) outcomes, focusing on campaign success and post-campaign performance, with a specific emphasis on Sustainable Oriented Ventures (SOVs). Using a two-step Heckman model on 508 Italian campaigns (2016–2020), we find that general human capital enhances campaign success universally, signaling credibility to investors. However, for SOVs, specialized human capital becomes critical post-campaign to navigate ESG complexities. In contrast, non-SOVs benefit consistently from general human capital across both stages. These results underscore the dual role of human capital in ECF, offering actionable insights for ventures with diverse orientations.
KW - Campaign success
KW - Equity crowdfunding
KW - Human capital
KW - Lead investors
KW - Sustainable ventures
KW - Venture performance
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U2 - 10.1016/j.frl.2025.106746
DO - 10.1016/j.frl.2025.106746
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:85214313815
SN - 1544-6123
VL - 74
JO - Finance Research Letters
JF - Finance Research Letters
M1 - 106746
ER -