Knowledge-driven business model innovation through the introduction of equity investment: evidence from China’s primary market

Purpose This study aims to explore the role of equity investment in knowledge-driven business model innovation (BMI) in context of open modes according to the evidence from China’s primary market. Design/methodology/approach Based on the database of China’s private market and data set of news clouds, the statistic approach is applied to explore and explain whether equity investment promotes knowledge-driven BMI. Machine learning method is also used to prove and predict the performance of such open innovation. Findings The results of logistic regression show that explanatory variables are significant, providing evidence that knowledge management (KM) promotes BMI through equity investment. By further using back propagation neural network, the classification learning algorithm estimates the possibility of BMI, which can be regarded as a score to quantify the performance of knowledge-driven BMI Research limitations/implications The quality of secondhand big data is not very ideal, and future empirical studies should use first-hand survey data. Practical implications This study provides new insights into the link between KM and BMI by highlighting the important roles of external investments in open modes. Social implications From the perspective of investment, the findings of this study suggest the importance for stakeholders to share knowledge and strategies for entrepreneurs to manage innovation. Originality/value The concepts and indicators related to business models are difficult to quantify currently, while this study provides feasible and practical methods to estimate knowledge-driven BMI with secondhand data from the primary market. The mechanism of knowledge and innovation bridged by the experience from investors is introduced and analyzed.