Iris Kruja, Doctoral Programme of Economics, Businesses and Social Sciences, Universidad de Sevilla, Ramón y Cajal, s/n, 41018 Sevilla, Spain, e-mail: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
Ana I. Irimia-Diéguez, Departament of Financial Economy and Operations Management, Universidad de Sevilla, Ramón y Cajal, s/n, 41018 Sevilla, Spain, e-mail: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Abstract

PURPOSE: This study examines whether ICT startups operating within a single emerging-economy ecosystem form distinct typologies based on perceived financial barriers and ecosystem support, and how these typologies relate to financing behavior, financing source composition, and firm characteristics. The study is framed as an exploratory, cross-sectional typology analysis of within-ecosystem heterogeneity. METHODOLOGY: The analysis is based on survey data collected from 111 ICT startups in Albania during March–May 2025. K-means clustering was applied using standardized scores of perceived financial barriers and ecosystem support. Differences across typologies were examined using ANOVA, Tukey post-hoc tests, Monte Carlo p-values for sparse financing-source tables, Cramer’s V and financing-diversification checks. A parsimonious multinomial logistic regression model was used to profile typology membership. FINDINGS: Three typologies are identified: financially constrained, ecosystem-enabled, and ecosystem-disconnected startups. The typologies differ significantly in access to finance and startup performance. They also differ in selected financing sources, especially bootstrapping and crowdfunding. The total number of financing sources used does not differ significantly across groups, indicating differences in financing-source composition rather than overall diversification. Typology membership is profiled by prior startup experience, firm size, and lifecycle stage. IMPLICATIONS: The findings show that ecosystem support is not experienced uniformly by startups operating in the same setting. The study contributes to entrepreneurial ecosystem research by highlighting structured heterogeneity within a single ecosystem, and to entrepreneurial finance research by linking financing behavior to startups’ perceived support-and-constraint profiles. For practice, the results suggest that startup support policies should be differentiated across financially constrained, ecosystem-enabled and ecosystem-disconnected firms. ORIGINALITY & VALUE: The study advances a typology-oriented perspective by showing that ICT startups within the same emerging-economy ecosystem may experience financial barriers and ecosystem support in different combinations. It also distinguishes financing-source composition from financing diversification, showing that startup groups may differ in the types of financing sources used even when the number of sources does not differ significantly. The study provides evidence from Albania, an underexplored small startup ecosystem where structural differentiation among startups is especially relevant.

Keywords: entrepreneurial ecosystems, startup typologies, startup finance, financial constraints, ecosystem support, financing behavior, financing-source composition, digital entrepreneurship, ICT startups, emerging economies