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Environmental sustainability has become one of the key issues for the future development of the European Union (EU). Estonia's startup entrepreneurship contributes prominently to innovative ideas in energy technology and information and communication technology (ICT) applications, essential for sustainability. Research and education are prerequisites for innovation in both fields. The gap in educational levels between Estonian women and men, favoring women, is among the largest in the EU. However, the proportion of women in entrepreneurship is significantly lower, even though the share of women in ICT personnel is among the highest in Europe. This study sought to determine women's contribution to sustainability (technology) startups in the context of these contrasting gaps. The article's dataset was based on sources such as the Global Entrepreneurship Monitor, Ministry of Education and Science, Business Register, and Startup Ecosystem. It qualitatively analyzed the sustainability orientation of ventures and the gender structure of founders across nearly 1300 startups and clarified the share of selected startups' fundraising within the entire ecosystem. Through a simple regression analysis, we uncovered some short-term trends. Our findings indicate that 92% of the accumulated €4.46 billion in startup funding is foreign capital, and 171 sustainability startups account for nearly 63% of the ecosystem's total fundraising. Among the founders of top-invested startups, only 6% are women, whereas women constitute 23% of the founders of sustainability startups. Despite this, sustainability startups with female participation have secured only 2.2% of the total investments in the sustainability group, highlighting a drastic gender disproportion. However, the fundraising trend for women's sustainability startups founded in the last five years is more positive, reaching 24% of this group's investments. Although their overall share remains significantly lower compared with the entire startup ecosystem, this emerging trend is a promising sign of the breakthrough for female entrepreneurs in a traditionally male-dominated sector. The article's conclusion summarizes the study's results and suggests future gender-based research and development opportunities.

Entrepreneurship is a process that transpires over time. Every entrepreneurial journey is a unique process that is difficult to replicate in the exact way it happened. Entrepreneurial activities in an existing organization can, over time, form a specific staged process that allows a more structured way from generation to implementation of new ideas. Through its supporting structure, corporate entrepreneurship channels ideas through a process that helps people stay focused, systematic, and efficient in value creation. Entrepreneurship and innovation activities in this process are undeniably linked; however, the two disciplines do not address them uniformly. Therefore, the research describing the corporate entrepreneurial and innovation processes is not aligned. In this study, we aimed to analyze entrepreneurship and innovation process approaches comparatively in an existing business context and to propose the triple-bottom-line corporate entrepreneurial (conceptual) process model for innovation and business sustainability. We provided insight into the dynamics of the entrepreneurial process in the existing business over time: A roadmap to evaluate the enablers and the critical elements for the innovation to transform and sustain. We proposed a harmonized stage model of the corporate entrepreneurial innovation process, where stage output artifacts mark the progression of the process, making it measurable. We provided conclusions from the literature review, a generalized model, and propositions on critical aspects of the entrepreneurial innovation process to happen, transform, and sustain.

Based on the trust/commitment theory and the customer-based brand equity theory, this study aims to ascertain which of the brand equity drivers of A. Le Coq beer have an impact on attachment and its overall brand equity in the Estonian brewery market. In order to achieve this goal, an empirical study was conducted based on the 17 customer-based/consumer-based brand equity models: the 15 brand equity models, including the beer/beverage brand equity models, the 2 internal brand equity models, as well as 3 other related models. The study utilised a sample of convenience of 120 University of Tartu students. The questionnaire was placed on Google’s online survey administration service. Confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) through AMOS29 was used for testing the fit of the model and covariances (through AMOS29) were used for testing the hypotheses. Additionally, t-test analysis was used for the differences in the means between the demographic characteristics and the items of the model. The results show that brand meaning has a strong positive effect on attachment strength, which significantly influences relationship factors—commitment, trust, and satisfaction. Another major finding is that the relationship factors—commitment, trust, and satisfaction—play a significant role in the development of the brand equity of A. Le Coq beer. This study provides useful insights for brewery marketing managers by exploiting the strong positive relationships found between beer brand equity drivers, such as the strong positive relationships found within consumers of beer, i.e., the relationships between brand reputation and brand image, brand meaning and attachment strength, attachment strength and commitment, attachment strength and satisfaction, attachment strength and trust, satisfaction and brand equity, commitment and brand equity, and trust and brand equity. This finding contributes to the literature on brand equity related to the Estonian environment. Five differences in demographic characteristics seem to play a role in designing strategies by the management teams of different brands for increasing the consumption of their competing brands of beer. A replication of a model previously used for a non-product is part of the novelty of this paper. In addition, all the examined relationships are found to be positive and significant, which provides a contribution to the existing literature.

Recently, there has been increased discussion of entrepreneurship and innovation as process-based phenomena. However, research on the essence of dynamic entrepreneurial and innovation processes and their simultaneous interactions needs to be more cohesive and well-covered. This article critically reviews prior publications and explores the process approach to entrepreneurial and innovation processes. Structuration and equivalence theory, systems and design thinking, and pattern matching theory were implemented to structure and synthesise a converged operationalised dynamic process model. Exploring different approaches to entrepreneurial and innovation processes by screening 468 publications on entrepreneurship and 527 on innovation and a critical review of prior findings, the article identified only 17 and 13 dynamic process models, respectively. Six structurally comparable models covering both disciplines were selected for further analysis. Both disciplines’ dynamic process models can be structured into five harmonised stages, which can partly be divided into (sub)phases. The article’s primary contribution to the theory is systematically integrating process-based and design approaches in entrepreneurship and innovation. As a result, a streamlined and converged dynamic process model is developed, and the role of the process venue and the entrepreneur or innovator is discussed. As a practical implication, future directions for entrepreneurship and innovation educators, policymakers, and entrepreneurial/innovation ecosystem stakeholders are presented at the end of the article.

Entrepreneurship education (EE) plays an essential role in developing the competencies of modern knowledge-based societies and economies, the so-called 21st-century competencies (OECD 2018) [...]

Although entrepreneurship at the university level has constantly been evolving, little research has been done on what competencies should be developed in entrepreneurship education (EE) and how EE relates to the core of entrepreneurship—the entrepreneurial process competence. This article seeks to develop and empirically measure the entrepreneurial process competence in the context of EE. A self-assessment questionnaire based on the ‘generic’ entrepreneurship competence model, improved with the section on entrepreneurial process competence, was used to assess the impact of EE intervention in major Estonian universities. The survey took place in two stages: the same questions were repeated at the beginning and end of the course in the 2019 autumn semester. It gave the responses of 355 students and showed the varied and small positive individual-level impact of entrepreneurship courses on minor aspects of ‘generic’ competences in different universities, depending on training methodology, study volume and contact hours. At the same time, all the competencies of the entrepreneurial process grew significantly. Readiness to start own business did not change. The article recommends focusing on entrepreneurial process competencies and their acquisition for development and metrics of entrepreneurship learning progression.

Language technology provides several possibilities to commercialise collected language resources (data) in the form of providing access to databases, dictionaries, translation, text analysis and localisation services, storage of documents and personal language data, software, and other types of digital content. This article focuses on the contractual relationships in selling language technology products and providing services to the customers, and explores the entrepreneurial perspective on the supply of digital content to compare its compatibility with the existing regulatory framework. For comparison, the authors have chosen Estonian companies specialising in language technology. The main conclusions concerning the entrepreneurial perspective are based on a study of homepages and personal interviews. The compatibility between the business model and the regulatory framework is analysed based on the case study and Estonian legislation. The authors aim to outline how language technology entrepreneurs in Estonia themselves conceptualise the digital content they are commercialising, the nature of their business models, and entrepreneurial practice (business model). The authors take into account the applicable regulatory framework (protection of intellectual property, contract law, proprietary relations), and also analyse the contracting method, contractual remedies, and need for an objective neutrality in legal regulation.

The entrepreneurial idea and opportunity are formed in the entrepreneurial process, which is characterized by entrepreneurial learning. During the entrepreneurial journey, the entrepreneur repeatedly reassesses the maturity of his business/venture idea and venture creation process to enter the market. The entrepreneur’s decisions are influenced by both objective and affective circumstances. This study aims to identify and map the fluctuations of idea–opportunity perception and affection by a student entrepreneur throughout the entrepreneurial learning journey simulating a genuine entrepreneurial (learning) process. The data collection of variables took place during an entrepreneurship course that modeled the entrepreneurial journey via process-based entrepreneurship training and applying feasibility and attractiveness self-assessment, observation and in-depth interviews. A small group of doctoral students developed their business ideas during a process-based entrepreneurship course. After each lesson and homework, they assessed the feasibility and attractiveness of their idea and opportunity. The results showed asynchronous fluctuations in these individual context-based perception variables, frequently depending on the progression of the entrepreneurial journey. The study added the concept of affective artifact and some generalizing dimensions to describe the entrepreneurial journey. Recommendations are given for the implementation and research of entrepreneurial process-based training.

Abstract The author develops further technology-based entrepreneurial journey and process concepts and models as well as defining the space of opportunity development between of the edges: Discovery & Exploitation, Arbitrage & Innovation and Existing & Created Opportunities. For that, new stage model of the entrepreneurial process will be introduced in the next section followed by a description of the entrepreneurial journey based on that. From the analysis of objectivist and constructivist approaches to opportunities, the ways are deduced how entrepreneurs learn to apply and develop entrepreneurial opportunities. As a result, the framework of the HTSF entrepreneurial journey is presented. The main value of the paper is the development further entrepreneurial journey, the entrepreneurial process and entrepreneurial opportunity (corridor) concepts for technology entrepreneurship (HTSFs) and suggestion a framework for further empirical validation. Keywords: entrepreneurship; entrepreneurial process; high-tech ventures; new venture creation; technology entrepreneurship

Associated with global climate agreements and the European Union’s focus on climate-neutral goals by 2050, the development of Green Transformation competencies in society has become topical. This viewpoint paper proposes a conceptual model for applying Entrepreneurship Education (EE) to designing an integrated transdisciplinary, Green Transformation Competence framework. In line with this, EE is seen as a tool for developing an active, informed, responsible, yet sustainable, living ecosystem-oriented and green orientation of citizens in the education system. Nevertheless, this viewpoint recognises several challenges for further research.

This paper empirically substantiates a novel tripartite framework for measuring learning outcomes of entrepreneurship education (EE) by employing structural equation modeling. Three types of learning outcome are estimated—cognitive, skill-based, and affective—following Bloom’s (1956) taxonomy of educational objectives. The study is based on a sample of 249 imminent and recent Bachelor-level graduates from the leading universities of Estonia. The key fit, reliability, and validity indicators show statistically that the tested framework can serve as an instrument for measuring the learning outcomes of EE. This novel instrument may also serve as an alternative to entrepreneurial intention-based models very frequently used in EE to evaluate the learning outcomes. The studied interrelationships demonstrate that (1) the affective outcomes correlate significantly with the cognitive outcomes (r = 0.273, p < 0.001) and with the skill-based (r = 0.368, p < 0.001) outcomes; a correlation between the cognitive and skill-based outcomes is also significant and comparatively high (r = 0.602, p < 0.001); (2) the learning outcomes explain more variance in the cognitive and skill-based outcome constructs (44.7% and 81.0%, accordingly) than in the affective outcome construct (16.7%). Conclusions and implications for entrepreneurship educators and researchers are discussed.

Suna Løwe Nielseni, Kim Klyveri, Majbritt Rostgaard Evaldi ja Torben Bageri raamat "Entrepreneurship in theory and practice: Paradoxes in play" on hea sissejuhatus valdkonda. See mitte üksnes ei paku teoreetilist vaatenurka distsipliinile, vaid ka suunab lugejat kriitiliselt analüüsima ettevõtluse pakutavaid võimalusi ning avardab kaasuste ja paradokside kaudu ettevõtja mõtteviisi, soodustades selle rakendamist ettevõtlusprotsessis. Sellisena on raamat väärtuslik nii üliõpilasele kui ka valdkonna professionaalile, kelleks magistriõppe läbinu peaks kujunema.

Glioblastoma multiforme (GBM) is one of the most angiogenic tumors. However, antiangiogenic therapy has not shown significant clinical efficacy. The aim of our study was to evaluate the impact of inflammatory tumor microenvironment on the expression of vascular endothelial growth factor receptor 2 (VEGFR-2). Surgically excised primary GBM tissues were histologically examined for overall extent of inflammation (score 1–3). After immunohistochemistry, the tissue expression of ICAM-1 (optical density), the number of VEGFR-2 positive (VEGFR-2+) blood vessels (per microscopic field), and the endothelial staining intensity of VEGFR-2 (score 0–3) were determined. In GBM, the extent of inflammation was 1.9 ± 0.7 (group mean ± SD). Mean optical density of inflammatory mediator ICAM-1 was 57.0 ± 27.1 (pixel values). The number of VEGFR-2+ blood vessels and endothelial VEGFR-2 staining intensity were 6.2 ± 2.4 and 1.2 ± 0.8, respectively. A positive association was found between endothelial VEGFR-2 staining intensity and the extent of inflammation (p=0.005). Moreover, VEGFR-2 staining intensity correlated with the expression level of ICAM-1 (p=0.026). The expression of VEGFR-2, one of the main targets of antiangiogenic therapy, depends on GBM microenvironment. Higher endothelial VEGFR-2 levels were seen in the presence of more pronounced inflammation. Target dependence on inflammatory tumor microenvironment has to be taken into consideration when treatment approaches that block VEGFR-2 signaling are designed.