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This study examines what technology-based startups treat as external triggers for initiating sustainable business model innovation (SBMI) through an interview-centered, comparative qualitative study of 31 sustainability-oriented startups in the Netherlands. The 46 semi-structured interviews conducted during 2023–2025 were complemented by archival material to develop a multilevel framework of external triggers. The analysis identifies seven trigger domains across two distinct levels. At the value network level, startups report customer and user adoption expectations for greener solutions, ecosystem gatekeeper and competitive pressures, impact-oriented finance and public funding conditions, and digital trust, traceability, and transparency requirements in procurement and inter-organizational exchange. At the institutional level, startups report clean-tech trajectories and socio-technical infrastructures, rules, standards, and compliance regimes, and societal climate and circularity norms shaping legitimacy climates and solution spaces. The findings show that SBMI initiation is not prompted by an undifferentiated set of generic environmental factors, but by structured multilevel triggers that impact startups through distinct ecosystem channels and prompt reconsideration of value creation, value delivery, and value capture.
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This study examines what technology-based startups treat as external triggers for initiating sustainable business model innovation (SBMI) through an interview-centered, comparative qualitative study of 31 sustainability-oriented startups in the Netherlands. The 46 semi-structured interviews conducted during 2023–2025 were complemented by archival material to develop a multilevel framework of external triggers. The analysis identifies seven trigger domains across two distinct levels. At the value network level, startups report customer and user adoption expectations for greener solutions, ecosystem gatekeeper and competitive pressures, impact-oriented finance and public funding conditions, and digital trust, traceability, and transparency requirements in procurement and inter-organizational exchange. At the institutional level, startups report clean-tech trajectories and socio-technical infrastructures, rules, standards, and compliance regimes, and societal climate and circularity norms shaping legitimacy climates and solution spaces. The findings show that SBMI initiation is not prompted by an undifferentiated set of generic environmental factors, but by structured multilevel triggers that impact startups through distinct ecosystem channels and prompt reconsideration of value creation, value delivery, and value capture.
Digitalization is increasingly reshaping business models, yet the mechanisms through which specific digital technologies influence business model transformation in renewable energy remain insufficiently understood. Unlike prior research that treats digitalization and business models separately or focuses on macro-level impacts, this study examines how digital technologies affect business model components—value creation, value delivery, and value capture—in renewable energy firms and the extent to which they drive business model adaptation, evolution, or innovation. It aims to combine insights from the literature on digitalization, sustainability, and business models. Through a systematic literature review following the four-phase PRISMA methodology, 32 peer-reviewed studies were analyzed using a combination of descriptive, bibliometric, and Gioia-based thematic coding analyses to identify structures and patterns across the dataset. The analysis introduces a functional grouping perspective, linking digital technologies to business model components, and business model changes. Findings reveal that the same technology can enable multiple, overlapping transformation pathways and that outcomes vary depending on how technologies are implemented and embedded within firm operations. This study contributes theoretically by integrating a functional technology lens and sustainability lens with business model change typologies—a novel integrative framework absent from the prior literature. It practically provides a framework to help renewable energy firms move toward sustainability-oriented reconfiguration of business models by prioritizing and integrating digital tools effectively, thereby enhancing competitive advantage and accelerating value capture from digitalization. This paper closes with directions for future research on technology-enabled business model change.
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Digitalization is increasingly reshaping business models, yet the mechanisms through which specific digital technologies influence business model transformation in renewable energy remain insufficiently understood. Unlike prior research that treats digitalization and business models separately or focuses on macro-level impacts, this study examines how digital technologies affect business model components—value creation, value delivery, and value capture—in renewable energy firms and the extent to which they drive business model adaptation, evolution, or innovation. It aims to combine insights from the literature on digitalization, sustainability, and business models. Through a systematic literature review following the four-phase PRISMA methodology, 32 peer-reviewed studies were analyzed using a combination of descriptive, bibliometric, and Gioia-based thematic coding analyses to identify structures and patterns across the dataset. The analysis introduces a functional grouping perspective, linking digital technologies to business model components, and business model changes. Findings reveal that the same technology can enable multiple, overlapping transformation pathways and that outcomes vary depending on how technologies are implemented and embedded within firm operations. This study contributes theoretically by integrating a functional technology lens and sustainability lens with business model change typologies—a novel integrative framework absent from the prior literature. It practically provides a framework to help renewable energy firms move toward sustainability-oriented reconfiguration of business models by prioritizing and integrating digital tools effectively, thereby enhancing competitive advantage and accelerating value capture from digitalization. This paper closes with directions for future research on technology-enabled business model change.
