Title: Towards a heuristic frame for opportunity development of business models for mobile applications in developing countries: the case of a Brazilian healthtech

Authors: Gabriel Marcuzzo do Canto Cavalheiro; Mariana Brandão Cavalheiro

Addresses: Department of Entrepreneurship and Management, Universidade Federal Fluminense (UFF), Rua Mário Santos Braga s/n, Campus do Valonguinho, Prédio 2 da Faculdade de Administração, 7o Andar, Centro, 24020-140, Niterói-RJ, Brazil ' Faculty of Tourism and Hospitality, Universidade Federal Fluminense, São Domingos, Niterói – RJ, 24210-200, Brazil

Abstract: With the widespread introduction of new digital technologies leading to new processes, products, markets, and ways of organising, entrepreneurs must discover opportunities in which to strategically exploit the new technologies. Based on an extensive literature review, this study proposed a model of entrepreneurial action that takes into account entrepreneurs' experiences of risk-taking, opportunity identification, and action. In order to validate the proposed framework, we apply the model to examine the growth trajectory of a Brazilian healthtech start-up. Therefore, this article seeks to contribute to filling a knowledge gap in the entrepreneurship literature using empirical evidence on the identification and development of a business opportunity. It became clear that the opportunity identification and development process focused on filling perceived gaps and involved expanding traditional capabilities within the activities of physicians, as well as acquiring expertise from outside the boundaries of the medical arena.

Keywords: entrepreneurship; opportunity identification; start-up; healthtech; opportunity development.

DOI: 10.1504/IJBIS.2024.138556

International Journal of Business Information Systems, 2024 Vol.46 No.1, pp.107 - 122

Accepted: 28 Feb 2021
Published online: 12 May 2024 *

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