Digital Capabilities and Startup Scaling in Technopreneurship: A Systematic Literature Review and Research Agenda
Keywords:
digital capabilities, startup scaling, technopreneurship, digital platforms, systematic literature reviewAbstract
Digital technologies have lowered coordination costs, accelerated experimentation, and expanded access to global markets, making rapid growth appear attainable for technopreneurial startups. However, the literature remains fragmented in its conceptualization of both digital capabilities and startup scaling, limiting the development of cumulative theory and actionable guidance. This study conducts a systematic literature review of peer-reviewed journal articles published between 2019 and 2026 to synthesize how digital capabilities enable scaling in technopreneurship and to develop a structured research agenda. Following PRISMA 2020 principles, we integrate evidence across entrepreneurship, information systems, and strategic management. The synthesis identifies four recurring mechanisms linking digital capabilities to scaling outcomes: (1) architectural leverage that supports replication and efficiency at scale, (2) accelerated learning through sensing and rapid experimentation, (3) ecosystem multiplication via platforms and networks, and (4) governance and strategic alignment to manage rising organizational complexity during growth. We further show that definitional inconsistencies surrounding scaling, scalability, and scale-up, as well as heterogeneous operationalizations of digital capabilities, remain central barriers to comparability and theory development. Building on these findings, we propose a research agenda emphasizing construct harmonization, a scaling-specific taxonomy of digital capabilities, capability sequencing across scaling stages, and multi-level longitudinal designs that account for ecosystem and institutional boundary conditions. Overall, the review advances a more coherent explanation of why some technopreneurial startups scale sustainably while others fail to translate digital advantage into repeatable growth.
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