Collaborations between MNEs and entrepreneurial ventures. A study on Open Innovability in the energy sector

As environmental challenges continue to mount, sustainable innovation has become a pressing need. Small entrepreneurial ventures and multinational enterprises (MNEs) have started to join forces to address this challenge. However, the dynamics of this collaboration, especially from the standpoint of smaller ventures, remain largely unexplored. In this paper, we shed light on the division of entrepreneurial labor in global interfirm networks by investigating the collaboration between MNEs and entrepreneurial ventures in the energy industry, addressing SDG goal 7. We conduct semi-structured interviews with six ventures and employ grounded theory to analyze the data. Our findings indicate that smaller ventures need to be ready to overcome obstacles when collaborating with MNEs, as the expected benefits drive the partnership. Notably, the ventures express interest in continuing the collaboration and share similar paths of growth, including accidental internationalization. •Collaborations with MNEs from the point of view of small ventures.•Gioia method identifies critical evaluations for successful collaboration.•Collaborative innovation supports sustainability in the energy sector.•Findings identify IPR as non-issue and paths for fast internationalization.•Unpredictable exogeneities and accidental internationalization as evolutionary path.