Digital Start-Up Ecosystems: A Systematic Literature Review and Model Development for South Africa

Digital start-ups play a crucial role in boosting the economies of many countries through technological innovations. Several studies have been conducted assessing digital start-ups or digital entrepreneurship, mainly from the perspective of the Global North. However, gaps exist in the literature regarding digital ecosystems, especially in the context of developing countries (the Global South), such as South Africa. This study fills this gap by exploring the structure as well as highlighting the hindering factors of the start-up ecosystem in South Africa. In addition, the study explores the influential factors of the digital start-up ecosystem and models that can be used to assess upscaling for the growth of new digital start-up ventures. The study conducted a systematic literature review using the PRISMA framework. The Scopus-indexed database was used to source published peer-reviewed papers on digital ecosystems between 2017 and 2023. Key findings of the study pertaining to South Africa’s start-up ecosystem revealed that the country is producing thriving digital start-ups. The current study also identified several challenges that affect the development of digital start-ups in South Africa. Some of the challenges include regulatory barriers, skills shortages, a lack of funding, and a digital infrastructure gap, among others. Furthermore, work is being conducted by ecosystem stakeholders to address these challenges, with a greater collective and cohesive effort needed to effectively address the hindering factors. The study advocates for intervention as well as policy and practitioner implications that could be utilised by ecosystem stakeholders, particularly entrepreneurs in the digital market. The research findings pertain to the South African start-up ecosystem but have greater appeal and relevancy for many developing start-up ecosystems globally, especially in the Global South.