Ecopreneurial Startups with Sustainable Innovations : A Case Study on the Emergence and Growth of Four Finnish Startup Companies

Abstract: With growing attention to sustainable development, the role of sustainable innovations has gained increasing significance. Due to their high innovativeness, research has begun to recognize the importance of small companies that base their entire business rationale on sustainability, as they have a central role in creating solutions to some of the most critical environmental issues of today. The key aim of this paper is therefore to explore the emergence of ecopreneurial startups with sustainable innovations in order to develop a deeper understanding of how they grow and operate. By using a case study approach based on semi-structured interviews and secondary data sources, this study examines four Finnish startup companies. The results suggest that the emergence of the studied startups is highly linked to the ecopreneurs’ ability to identify potential business opportunities and to innovate through exploiting both their own and others’ previous knowledge. In addition, various internal and external aspects such as the work teams’ skills and expertise together with different push and pull factors contribute to the innovation development process around which the emergence of the companies is built.