How stronger revenue models contribute to financially sustainable growth markets

Many innovative, circular companies possess strong technology and a clear societal added value. Yet scaling up often proves difficult. Not because funding is lacking, but because the underlying business model still does not sufficiently align with the new economic reality.

To address this financing bottleneck, Invest-NL, together with Professor Jan Jonker and Guy de Sevaux, examined revenue models that can accelerate sustainability and circularity. The whitepaper Paying to Change maps out more than 120 business models and over 500 practical examples from both domestic and international sources.

Many new markets are in a transition phase. Value chains are changing, raw materials are becoming scarcer, and regulations are shifting. At the same time, traditional revenue models are often still based on a linear economy.

As a result, a financing challenge arises. When the earning capacity of companies is insufficiently visible or predictable, it becomes more difficult to attract investments and scale up.

With this research, Invest-NL maps out which revenue models can contribute to stronger business cases and thus be financed, so they can contribute to a greater earning capacity within sustainable and circular markets.

Earning capacity as the missing link

The research shows that many circular initiatives are not hampered by technology or a lack of potential revenue models. The main challenge lies in choosing and combining models that align with the strategy, supply chain position, and development phase of a company.

That is precisely where Market Development plays an important role. By making bottlenecks visible and developing knowledge about what makes markets financeable, we help entrepreneurs, investors, and other supply chain parties to grow new markets more quickly.

Broader than a single sector

The insights from the research are relevant for a wide range of transition areas, from circular materials and bio-based raw materials to innovative manufacturing industries and other emerging markets. In this way, the research contributes to a broader objective: strengthening the future earning capacity of the Netherlands by making innovative markets more financeable.