Sustainable startups have great difficulties in attracting financial resources from traditional sources. One of the main issues is that funders and investors cannot see the business case, considering the risk too high compared to potential returns. One main derisking strategy for sustainable companies and startups, therefore, is to have sustainable business models (SBM) that can be communicated clearly to capital providers. It is extremely difficult to have specific business model blueprints since every company is unique, with a unique selling and value proposition. However, it is possible to develop a generic blueprint for a sustainable business model.

To support this PREP4BLUE developed a process for screening, developing, and validating SBM blueprints that can help generating sufficient public/private investments into solutions regarding the restoration of oceans and waters.

The process involves a five step derisking strategy that can be used to screen, develop, and validate SBM blueprints for a sustainable company, startup, or projects focusing on restoring oceans and waters in line with Mission ‘Restore our Ocean and Waters’ objectives. The steps are as follows:

• Step 1 involves mapping the project’s activity focus according to its ecological, social, and economic outcomes.
• Step 2 refers to the selection of the for-profit, private-public-partnership, or not-for-profit business model category according to the project’s activity focus.
• Step 3 finalises the screening with the selection of a specific business model according to the business model category.
• Step 4 involves the development of the specific business model canvas according to the previously selected business model.
• Step 5 finally involves the validation of the previously developed business model canvas through benchmarking. This can further lead to an iteration of previous steps, possibly resulting in a revision of decisions made in previous steps.

The steps above have been captured in PREP4BLUE Deliverable 5.2. To support individuals in applying the approach above, the report contains case studies where the process is shown in an exemplary manner. As choosing an appropriate funding model that fits the chosen SBM blueprint is another major derisking strategy for a sustainable company, startup, or project, the report also identifies, defines, and analyses funding models for mission roll-out, with a specific focus on new, innovative approaches. This is accompanied by a heat mapping tool to identify relevant funding gaps for different business model blueprints.

PREP4BLUE D5.2 can be accessed by clicking on the button below.