Equity crowdfunding for sustainable oriented ventures: Lead investor impact on campaign success and post-campaign performance

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.