Achieving continuous growth through entrepreneurial ecosystem interplay : Perspectives of Entrepreneurs, Investors & Innovation Support System

Sammanfattning

The entrepreneurial ecosystem is a complex web of actors, all working alongside each other in encouraging entrepreneurship and innovation. This thesis explores how the interplay between entrepreneurs, investors and actors within the innovation support system enables continuous growth in new ventures in Sweden. While existing research on entrepreneurial growth mainly focuses on individual actors, this study adopts an ecosystem perspective to better understand how growth is shaped through the interactions between the three stakeholder groups - entrepreneurs, support systems, and investors. A qualitative research design was adopted through twelve semi-structured interviews with entrepreneurs, investors and innovation support actors, encompassing close to thirteen hours of interview data, across three different regions in Sweden. Using triangulation, guided by the Triple Helix model, the study applies the Gioia methodology to analyze how the relationships and interactions among the representative of the three groups influence the process of achieving long-term growth. The findings of the study demonstrate that continuous growth is not an outcome of isolated actors’ actions but instead is based a relational and dynamic process emerging through the interplay between stakeholders. Growth is enabled when financial resources, social capabilities, and knowledge sharing are effectively allocated and mobilized through strong relationships. Stakeholders must align their expectations and time horizons to make growth possible. Misalignments and conflicting priorities create tensions that constrain growth. The study further shows that continuous growth is more non-linear than previously described. The Swedish entrepreneurial ecosystem provides enabling conditions for achieving growth by facilitating access to funding, support infrastructures and collaborative networks. However, complexity, fragmentation and widespread competition within the system also creates challenges in navigating and aligning stakeholders effectively. Continuous growth is not achieved by eliminating tensions, but by managing and navigating them over time. By integrating multiple stakeholder perspectives, this study contributes to a more holistic understanding of continuous growth as a relational and ecosystem embedded process.