Stimulating Green FinTech Innovation for Sustainable Development: An Analysis of the Innovation Process

Sammanfattning: Achieving a sustainable development and fighting climate change will require a faster and vaster allocation of financial resources than what has yet been witnessed. Green FinTech innovations have been identified as one potential solution to this challenge. Stimulating and supporting the development of such innovations is thus important, but requires knowledge about what the innovation processes look like, which individual, internal organizational and external societal factors that influence them, and how these factors influence them. The aim of this study is thus to contribute to the conceptual and empirical understanding of the innovation process of green FinTech innovations by conducting a multiple-case study with the three green FinTech innovations bettervest, SDG-Investments and Der Finanzoptimist in the area of Frankfurt, Germany. The data was collected through semi-structured interviews. The findings show that the green FinTech innovation process begins with an initiation period which consists of a gestation period during which core innovation ideas and related outcome criteria occur, innovation team members gain new knowledge, new social relationships are made, and most aspects in the external context stay stable. The acquired knowledge and the stable aspects in the external context influence the occurrence of ideas and related outcome criteria. The gestation period ends with a shock and the end of the initiation period is defined by the making of plans and budgets. The development period is defined by several paths of activities. The initial outcome criteria develop and outcomes are continuously assessed. Positive outcomes occur and are influenced by innovation members’ capabilities, their new roles and new legal relationships. Negative outcomes defined as setbacks also occur and are influenced by established legal transactions. Innovation team members work part-time during the development period. Social and legal relationships with actors outside the innovation team expand, influenced by previously made social relationships and the innovation team members’ new roles. The expansion of social relationships is also influenced by positive outcomes. Activities aimed at implementing the innovation occur throughout the development period. Eventually, the innovation process finishes. The findings represent the first contribution to research on the topic of green FinTech innovation processes. Future research should examine additional digital business functions such as digital money or digital payments, the differences and similarities between general and green FinTech innovation processes, and use other research and data collection methods.