Exploring the business model of innovation spaces: an international analysis of environments for creativity, innovation and development

A variety of physical spaces exist to foster creative activities as well as the development of innovations by offering solutions to complex problems: Social Labs, Makerspaces, Hackerspaces, Idea Labs, among others. Despite their growing relevance in the innovation ecosystem, it is difficult to differentiate their business model and value proposition. This paper addresses this difficulty by exploring the elements that characterize the business model domains of innovation spaces. Through qualitative web content analysis, we studied 87 spaces located in eleven countries, with a focus on Colombia. We found that the value proposition among these spaces can be focused on: education, prototyping and experimentation, solving social problems, and fostering entrepreneurship and innovation. This study expands our understanding of innovation spaces, value proposition, communication channels and revenue streams. Moreover, it theorizes about the relationships and dynamics between innovation spaces, co-creation, and value proposition through a framework developed inductively.