Investors’ Industry Preference in Equity Crowdfunding

Abstract

Equity Crowdfunding Online Portals offer access to investors, resources and fundraising support to numerous equity crowdfunding projects from different industry sectors. In this context, we study investors’ preferences of equity crowdfunding projects in different industries. We present novel empirical evidence revealing differences in startup characteristics across various industry sectors and examine how certain startup characteristics influence business valuations for representative industries in equity crowdfunding. A new business valuation method in equity crowdfunding is introduced to facilitate our analyses.

Keywords: Equity Crowdfunding, Industry Effect, Business Valuation

JEL Classification: G23, G24, L26