The role of crowdfunding in reducing the equity gap in Poland
The role of crowdfunding in reducing the equity gap in Poland

Summary/Abstract: The aim of the paper is to verify if equity crowdfunding has an impact on equity gap reduction among early stage companies in Poland. The analysis is based on crowdfunding campaigns organized on the three most popular platforms in Poland during the 2015–2019 period. The presented research on equity crowdfunding allowed the main goal of the paper to be accomplished, namely to characterize equity crowdfunding in Poland. The results obtained also enabled equity crowdfunding to be placed among other equity capital sources for companies in the early stages of development. The results of the study verify the hypothesis that equity crowdfunding has an impact on equity gap reduction among Polish early stage companies. Our key findings prove that equity crowdfunding in Poland is mainly used by relatively small, early stage companies that operate in various sectors. Another finding is that most of the companies raised capital that qualifies as the Macmillan gap. We also proved that there is a relatively high level of information asymmetry among equity crowdfunding campaigns and provided our own definition of equity crowdfunding.

• Details
• Contents