Unpacking sustainability in start-ups: a systematic review and research agenda

Abstract

In recent years, sustainability has gained much attention in the international environment, and introducing new products, processes, or practices for a sustainable future has become a key strategy for businesses. Start-ups have become a vital platform for introducing innovative businesses for sustainability, leading to a growing body of empirical research on sustainable start-ups. This study aims to identify the topics that have received major academic attention in sustainable start-ups and provides suggestions for possible directions for future research. For this purpose, we employed a bibliometric network analysis, identifying the trends and gaps in the existing stream of sustainable start-ups literature, suggesting future directions based on our findings. The existing literatures were focused on the following themes: entrepreneurship, business model and strategy, and United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (UN SDGs). Based on these findings, the study makes the following contributions. First, we reveal the lack of research methods and theories used to explain sustainable start-ups. Second, research on external actors, especially the importance of government support, has been overlooked. Third, the role of sustainable start-ups in the circular economy has been under-researched given its importance. Finally, we suggest that adopting a life-cycle perspective is essential for understanding the mechanisms by which start-ups achieve sustainable performance.