IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/taf/indinn/v32y2025i1p24-52.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Partnering with green start-ups: a vehicle for eco-innovation?

Author

Listed:
  • Andra Riandita
  • Anders Broström
  • Raffaella Cagliano

Abstract

Established firms are increasingly forming alliances with green start-ups, i.e. newly-started ventures dedicated to eco-innovation. This study explores the rationales for the initiation and continuation of such alliances. We investigate how established firms leverage these alliances to facilitate eco-innovation adoption alongside their pursuit of legitimacy. Findings from a case study on seven alliances focused on food waste reduction initiatives in Italy and Sweden indicate that legitimacy-seeking rationales are predominant during alliance formation. As alliances evolve, they transition into a phase where firms identify opportunities for eco-innovation, while ambitions of capability-building and new revenue creation shape the development of the alliances. This study contributes to eco-innovation and environmental alliance literature by showcasing how the pursuit of legitimacy facilitates established firms’ adoption and implementation of eco-innovation through alliances with green start-ups.

Suggested Citation

  • Andra Riandita & Anders Broström & Raffaella Cagliano, 2025. "Partnering with green start-ups: a vehicle for eco-innovation?," Industry and Innovation, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 32(1), pages 24-52, January.
  • Handle: RePEc:taf:indinn:v:32:y:2025:i:1:p:24-52
    DOI: 10.1080/13662716.2024.2390012
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://hdl.handle.net/10.1080/13662716.2024.2390012
    Download Restriction: Access to full text is restricted to subscribers.

    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1080/13662716.2024.2390012?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    More about this item

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:taf:indinn:v:32:y:2025:i:1:p:24-52. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    We have no bibliographic references for this item. You can help adding them by using this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Chris Longhurst (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.tandfonline.com/CIAI20 .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.