Implementation Challenges of Innovation Policies Fostering Sustainability: Evidence from a French Public Grant for Technological Startups

Innovation policies have a tradition of targeting entrepreneurship, but more recently some have investigated their ability to foster responsible innovation. These approaches are emerging, and they might spread. However, as the literature emphasizes startups? sustainability impact assessment issues, challenges might arise. We conducted an exploratory study in the field, using the original case of i-Lab, a public grant for startups which added environmental and societal criteria in its evaluation. It provided an in-depth understanding of implementation and sustainability impact assessment challenges created by an innovation policy targeting responsible innovation for technological startups. We demonstrated the importance of the anticipation phase, which can be better prepared to extend acceptability and to guide entrepreneurs on the meaning of such requirements, thus reducing the heterogeneity of startups? responses. JEL Codes: L26