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RESEARCH PRODUCT

Success in Equity Crowdfunding: A Quantitative Study of What Drives Equity Crowdfunding Campaign Success in Norway

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This Master’s thesis studies what drives success in Norwegian equity crowdfunding campaigns. Norway is an interesting context for studying equity-based crowdfunding because of limited access to venture capital for start-ups additionally to heavy reliance on state support. The recent boom in equity crowdfunding in Norway makes this study relevant. A linear regression analysis is based on 192 observations collected from the two existing equity crowdfunding platforms in Norway; Folkeinvest and Dealflow. The thesis highlights variables supplemented by the relevant literature within success factors in crowdfunding and presents 14 hypotheses. The most prominent results of the study is that a longer campaign duration has a significant negative influence, and a sustainability-oriented project has a significant positive influence on campaign success. Number of images, videos and the team size are positively associated with campaign success in relation to attracting investors. Including images of high quality significantly influences campaign success. There is no difference between the sexes in access to capital, and equity-based crowdfunding has the effect of decentralizing start-up capital by distributing money to both cities and districts. The results suggest that Norwegian equity crowdfunding investors are less triggered by financial arguments than traditional investors. This is the first study to research success factors in Norwegian equity crowdfunding campaigns and it will provide a foundation of valuable insights for future studies and discussions.