Scaling up Nordic impact through public procurement

Methodology

In this study, we followed a search word directory provided by the project partners, Den Sociale Kapitalfond Accelerator Management (Denmark), Prosper Impact Consulting (Sverige), Impact Startup Norge (Norway), and Epiqus (Finland). We searched the academic research database Scopus for relevant research from the last 5 years (2017-2022). The first search round provided us with information on which search words yielded most results in the Nordic conditions, and we focused more on this group in our subsequent search rounds in government literature directories and media databases.

Since the field of impact investment is relatively new, it is shaping up differently in each Nordic country, with different emphases. Therefore, we address each country individually. Because the term ‘social impact start-up’ is a specific and rather new term connected to the accelerator programmes in the Nordic countries, it is not common in the literature and reports. Consequently, we have applied other terms such as ‘social entrepreneur’ and ‘social innovation’ as these are interchangeable in some cases, and there are many lessons to be harvested in the studies conducted using this terminology.

To create transparency for this desk study, the next paragraphs will present the terminology applied in each country along with the search words in the local language providing most results:

*Finland*	Both Finnish translations of key terms and their English counterparts were used in Finnish searches, including ‘yhteiskunnallinen yritys’ OR ‘yrittäjyys’, ‘yhteiskunnallinen kasvuyritys’, ‘yhteiskunnallinen innovaatio’, ‘yhteiskunnallinen start-up’, ‘sosiaalinen’ OR ‘yhteiskunnallinen innovaatio’, and ‘vaikutussijoittaminen’. Of these terms, ‘sosiaalinen innovaatio’ yielded most results.
*Sweden*	Country-specific search terms included ‘social entreprenör’, ‘socialt företag’, and ‘startups + social innovation’ (limited to Swedish). ‘Social entreprenör’ and ‘socialt företag’ were used rather interchangeably in many references; however, according to the government innovation agency Vinnova, these terms have slightly different connotations. A ‘social entreprenör’ or ‘samhällsentreprenör’ includes meeting social problems as an integral part of their business concept, while a ‘social företag’ is more focused on combining profit-seeking goals with generating social benefits. ‘Social innovation’ in Sweden is defined as any innovative services, products, or ways of doing things that seek to meet societal challenges (Vinnova 2018). Of these terms, ‘socialt företag’ yielded most results.
*Norway*	The term ‘social impact startup’ is not common in the literature and reports in Norway. The term ‘sosial entreprenør’ seems to have been established in the last 5-10 years in Norway, and several government reports have been written specifically on social entrepreneurs and their role in society as well as the possibilities for the public sector to collaborate with or procure from them. Literature and reports on ‘sosial entreprenør’ and ‘start-up’ exist. However, most relevant for this desk study is literature about social entrepreneurship and innovative public procurement.
*Denmark*	In Denmark the terms ‘socialøkonomisk virksomhed’, ‘social entreprenør’, and ‘social iværksætter’ are most commonly known. ‘Social impact start-up’ is mostly used in connection to accelerator programs funded by Den Sociale Kapitalfond. From the searches, it appears that ‘socialøkonomisk iværksætter’ and ‘social entreprenør’ were the most used terms and were the most relevant to study the national landscape concerning main barriers, determinants and enablers, and institutional support measures.