Defining networks in entrepreneurial ecosystems: the openness of ecosystems

The paper draws on network theory to employ concepts of homophily and heterophily to investigate whether the presence of familiar, unfamil-iar or a mix of actors in an entrepreneurial ecosys-tem is related to start-up rates. The empirical focus of this study is on 81 UK university entrepreneurial ecosystems and their outputs in terms of academic spinoff companies. The paper finds that university entrepreneurial ecosystems with access to actors of predominantly heterophilious character are associated with higher spinoff start-up rates. It is concluded that in stimulating the development of successful entre-there is a clear need to focus network character of actors in entrepreneurial ecosystems and whether this character is associated with start-up rates. Specifically, it focuses on the familiarity of actors, inspecting whether it is related to greater venture forma-tions. In so doing, the study examines 81 UK university entrepreneurial ecosystems. It finds that university entre-preneurial ecosystems that generate more ventures are associated with having a presence of actors of unfamil-iar character, drawing attention to the openness of eco-systems' networks. The key implication of the study is in recognising the link between the ecosystem's openness to diverse actors and its entrepreneurial performance.