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Unpacking the drivers of the socio-environmental sustainability of new ventures: insights from innovative digital start-ups in Italy

Author

Listed:
  • Leonardo Mazzoni

    (European University Institute, Robert Schuman Centre for Advanced Studies – Centre for a Digital Society)

  • Silvia Rita Sedita

    (University of Padova)

Abstract

Thanks to the pervasive adoption of digital technologies across different industries, “digital-born companies” nowadays play a pivotal role in the current techno-economic scenario. The concurrent sustainability imperative has generated constraints and entrepreneurial opportunities for new ventures. A narrow part of the entrepreneurship literature has analyzed the relationship between the emerging digital phenomenon and the transformative capacity of ICT start-ups as a potential key driver to tackle grand societal challenges due to their ability to alter business models and/or optimize existing resources. Following this line of reasoning, we analyze how strategic orientation and boundary-spanning activities of ICT start-ups relate to their socio-environmental sustainability. Poisson family estimations (negative binomial and zero-inflated negative binomial) of 172 innovative ICT start-ups based in Italy reveal different driving factors of their socio-environmental sustainability. Our work provides novel insights into the sustainability drivers of digital start-ups, suggesting differentiated strategies for entrepreneurs aimed at fostering socio-environmental sustainability as one of their primary goals. Market strategic orientation is more associated with social sustainability, while technological strategic orientation is more associated with environmental sustainability. The development of a wide portfolio of partnerships seems beneficial only for social sustainability, with no effect on environmental sustainability.

Suggested Citation

  • Leonardo Mazzoni & Silvia Rita Sedita, 2025. "Unpacking the drivers of the socio-environmental sustainability of new ventures: insights from innovative digital start-ups in Italy," International Entrepreneurship and Management Journal, Springer, vol. 21(1), pages 1-35, December.
    • Handle: RePEc:spr:intemj:v:21:y:2025:i:1:d:10.1007_s11365-024-01019-8
    DOI: 10.1007/s11365-024-01019-8
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