A guide to becoming green: Insights from angel investors developing sustainability-specific knowledge

Abstract

This paper explores how business angels develop the knowledge necessary to offer sustainability-value-adding activities, thereby becoming green angels. A multiple case study was conducted based on five investors from Germany and Sweden who offer sustainability-value-adding activities without having had explicit previous sustainability experience. Bringing together the empirical findings and literature on angel learning and sustainability competences, the introduced model illustrates that angels continuously apply a combination of hybrid strategies. The result of these learning strategies is sustainability-specific knowledge in a complex entrepreneurial context, including conceptual and systemic sustainability knowledge, critical thinking, ethical considerations, and capabilities for change. This study adds to the business angel literature as it empirically demonstrates how business angels go beyond the experiential, informal, and individual learning centered by existing literature and include a combination of vicarious, collective, and formal strategies.