The climate crisis demands an urgent transition to sustainable energy. While technological advancements are crucial, they alone cannot achieve the necessary scale and speed of the energy transition. Effective business models are essential to bridge this gap, turning innovation into scalable, real-world solutions. This study aims to explore the process of business model innovation in green energy startups, with a particular focus on how these firms navigate contextual contingencies.

Through two longitudinal case studiesit, it examines how startups respond to external pressures by leveraging internal enablers to iteratively develop and refine their business models. The findings show that contextual contingencies define BMI orientation by introducing different levels of complexity to BMI process. This in turn affects the evolution of dynamic capabilities in firms and as a result shape BMI processes. As DCs become stronger, strategic change becomes more proactive.