Purpose Entrepreneurial ecosystems consist of interactions among diverse actors and key elements, support, culture, finance, policies, human capital and markets, that shape venture development. This research aims to investigate how these elements interrelate and influence the ecosystem’s innovative performance. Design/methodology/approach This research evaluates the perceptions of 87 actors involved in a Brazilian entrepreneurial ecosystem through a quantitative study, employing multiple correspondence analysis in SPSS 22. Each dimension was analyzed using two categories: high and low. Findings The analysis revealed four clusters that explain how the core elements sustain innovative performance within the ecosystem. In Clusters 1 and 3, associations were observed between creative performance and the market, policy, finance and human capital, classified as “high” and “low,” respectively. Clusters 2 and 4, in turn, showed links between culture and support, also in the “high” and “low” categories. These findings indicate that sustaining innovative performance depends on specific patterns of association among elements rather than on the isolated presence of each component. Originality/value This research contributes to the literature on entrepreneurial ecosystems in three ways: (1) it advances the theoretical understanding of ecosystem dynamics by showing how the orchestration of key elements reduces fragmentation and supports innovative performance in emerging economies; (2) it offers an empirically grounded framework with strategic management practices to guide actors in orchestrating and activating their ecosystems; and (3) it introduces a data-driven multiple correspondence analysi based methodology as a robust tool for diagnosing synergies and gaps in the development of entrepreneurial ecosystems in emerging economies.
Koch et al. (2026) studied this question.