Sustainable business models as successful drivers in equity crowdfunding

Equity 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.