The advent of COVID-19 portended a dire liquidity crunch for small firms as traditional external funding sources were severely curtailed. Defying expectations, initial equity crowdfunding (ECF) campaigns not only withstood the pandemic’s onslaught but also saw unprecedented growth in funding volume, investor participation and overfunding. The upshot was that external equity, the traditional funding of last resort, became the first choice. Increased ECF funding especially for seed ventures are likely linked to government-backed loan guarantee schemes that acted as a quality signal for investors. The paper highlights the unanticipated positive synergies between public support mechanisms and private equity dynamics where equity was funding of first choice for many small firms seeking external funding. These developments underscore ECF’s central role in digitally channelling equity capital to small firms during a period of heightened economic uncertainty.

COVID-19 的出现预示着小企业将面临严重的流动性紧缩，因为传统的外部融资来源受到严重限制。出乎意料的是，最初的股权众筹（ECF）活动不仅经受住了疫情的冲击，而且在资金量、投资者参与度和过度融资方面也出现了前所未有的增长。结果是外部股权（传统的最后手段）成为首选。 ECF 资金的增加，特别是针对种子企业的资金，可能与政府支持的贷款担保计划有关，这对投资者来说是一个质量信号。该文件强调了公共支持机制和私募股权动态之间意想不到的积极协同作用，其中股权是许多寻求外部融资的小企业的首选融资方式。这些发展凸显了 ECF 在经济不确定性加剧期间以数字方式向小企业输送股权资本方面的核心作用。