New ventures in Cleantech: Opportunities, capabilities and innovation outcomes

Abstract

Facing the challenge of climate change, innovations that imply environmental benefits create business opportunities for entrepreneurs. This paper analyzes innovation capabilities of startups in Cleantech and how the innovation outcomes of those startups develop over time. Based on the Mannheim Foundation Panel and applying propensity score matching, a cohort of 567 Cleantech startups is analyzed and compared with a control cohort of non‐Cleantech startups. We find that startups in Cleantech have, on average, higher technological capabilities compared with all other startups. Our econometric evidence shows that Cleantech startups are more likely to combine existing technology in a novel way. Finally, we find that Cleantech startups develop more market novelties in subsequent years when compared with their control group peers.

The influence of dynamic capabilities on startup growth

“…Innovative startups provide new, better and cheaper products and services to wide segments of the population (Blank, 2013;Ries, 2011), improving their living standards, quality of life and economic productivity. Fee-free credit cards, social and professional internet-based networks, rideshare apps, environmental-related technologies and solutions to increase the productivity of farms (Dutia, 2014;Jensen, Lööf, & Stephan, 2020) are only a few examples of how innovative startups may influence the lives of millions of people in a very positive way. At the same time, new and innovative firms that achieve high growth create a disproportionate number of new jobs (Barbero et al, 2011;Haltiwanger, Jarmin, & Miranda, 2013;Li, Goetz, Partridge, & Fleming, 2016) for instance, according to Ledbetter (2018) the fastestgrowing 12% of firms generate half of the new jobs in the US economy.…”

Sustainability-Oriented Macro Trends and Innovation Types—Exploring Different Organization Types Tackling the Global Sustainability Megatrend

“…Clean Tech ranked high in the portfolio of innovations of research and public institutions (43.03%), established companies (29.67%), and startups (24.22%). This result is most certainly driven by the increasing interest in and awareness of policies and the associated research funding to fight climate change or environmental degradation [81][82][83].…”

“…In addition, policies should also support the emergence, implementation, and growth potential of innovative startups and companies, especially from the sustainability-oriented technology sector [82]. More sustainability-oriented technological developments can be perceived as the main drivers toward a greener and more sustainability-oriented society and economy [81]. This way, politics can foster this transformational process [81].…”

“…More sustainability-oriented technological developments can be perceived as the main drivers toward a greener and more sustainability-oriented society and economy [81]. This way, politics can foster this transformational process [81]. As the field of politics becomes more aware of "the capabilities and innovation outcomes of Clean Tech startups [as an example], it may become easier to enact policies that encourage new business ventures to focus on these assets and capabilities that enhance innovation performance" [81] (p. 903).…”

“…This way, politics can foster this transformational process [81]. As the field of politics becomes more aware of "the capabilities and innovation outcomes of Clean Tech startups [as an example], it may become easier to enact policies that encourage new business ventures to focus on these assets and capabilities that enhance innovation performance" [81] (p. 903). Stimulating the creation of and offering financial support for startups from the Clean Tech area could be a good way for policies to foster more sustainability-oriented technology developments for sustainable development [85].…”