Academic entrepreneurs' material engagements in the creation of science-based ventures

Abstract

This paper examines the creation of entrepreneurial opportunities under coupled technical and demand uncertainty within science-based ventures (SBVs). Whereas opportunity creation theory emphasizes discursive processes, we build on practice theory and pragmatism to explore how SBV opportunities also emerge through entrepreneurs' evolving engagements with indeterminate material artifacts. Through a longitudinal multiple-case study, we identify two patterns of material engagement: epistemic engagement, oriented toward knowledge creation, and pragmatic engagement, oriented toward practical use. We show how opportunity creation unfolds through interweaving cycles of epistemic and pragmatic engagement. By introducing material engagements as constitutive, we specify creation theory for SBVs and highlight the central role of materiality in shaping belief formation, opportunity objectification, stakeholder engagement, and the variation–selection–retention process. This paper explores how entrepreneurs create science-based ventures (SBVs) by engaging with evolving material artifacts, like sensors and prototypes. Based on a study of SBV initiatives supported by the European Commission's ATTRACT program, we identify a process in which entrepreneurs repeatedly alternate between epistemic engagement—focused on scientific understanding—and pragmatic engagement—focused on usability and implementation. This material engagement cycle plays a central role in venture development under coupled technical and demand uncertainty. We highlight tensions inherent in this process and the strategies through which they are accommodated, offering practical insights for entrepreneurs building ventures from frontier science and policymakers supporting science commercialization.