Strategic approaches to establishing a startup business in the digital economy

Анотація

Purpose. This study aims to explore the strategic ways of creating a startup business in the digital economy and find out what the main factors are that influence the entrepreneurial activity in a context of rapid digital transformation. This shift in the process of business creation due to the growing importance of digital technologies, innovation ecosystems and alternative financing mechanisms necessitates a better understanding of the determinants that play a role in business start-up and sustainable growth. The study aims at pinpointing the most significant economic and digital factors that foster entrepreneurial development and their effect in countries of varying maturity in digitalization.

Methods. Research methodology used is a mix of theoretical, comparative, statistical and econometrics. To develop the conceptual approach to the study, a review of contemporary approaches to entrepreneurial development in the digital economy was carried out. The comparative analysis was conducted with secondary data from five European countries: Germany, Poland, Lithuania, Latvia and Ukraine for the years 2021-2025. A panel data fixed-effects regression model was constructed to examine the effects of the determinants on the start-up formation. Indicators reflecting digital adoption, investment through venture capital, research and development expenditure, human capital development, and economic performance were included in the model. To ensure the reliability and the validity of the findings, descriptive statistics, comparative assessment and econometric estimation techniques have been used.

Results. The results of the study show that the digitalization level, innovation activity, financing availability and human capital quality has a significant influence on the development of the startup ecosystem. Comparative analysis showed that there are significant differences in the performance of the entrepreneurial ecosystem in the analyzed countries. Germany was the most entrepreneurial and innovative country, whilst Poland and Lithuania showed the most dynamic development of entrepreneurial capacity. In 2022, the formation of startups in Ukraine temporarily slowed down, but then gradually started to recover, thanks to the ongoing processes of digitalization. The econometric analysis validated that all the variables included in the explanation of the startup creation are positively related to the establishment of startups. The biggest effects were those of venture capital availability, human capital development, and of course, digital adoption and research and development expenditure, in contributing to entrepreneurial growth. The estimated model accounted for a significant amount of the variation in the startup formation, which further highlights the relevance of an integrated entrepreneurial ecosystem for the development of businesses in the digital economy.

Conclusions. The results show that the successful establishment of a startup necessitates new policies geared towards innovation, highly developed human capital, advanced digital infrastructure and accessible financing measures. The study finds that digital transformation is a catalyst for entrepreneurship and boosts the performance of innovation ecosystems. The findings offer implications for policy makers who want to offer a better environment for entrepreneurship and for entrepreneurs who want to build sustainable business models in digitally enabled markets. The study provides empirical evidence on the drivers of start-up formation and directions for improving entrepreneurial ecosystems in the digital economy to the existing body of knowledge on entrepreneurship.