The necessity to reduce greenhouse gas emissions in energy production, to diversify energy resources and liberalization trends in the energy sector have motivated market oriented innovative approaches to develop sustainable technologies. In this context academic start-ups (ASUs) may be an important driver for creativity to bring science based breakthrough environmental innovations to the market and make use of opportunities that otherwise would go unnoticed. In fact, ASUs, although far more risky than other means for research valorization (e.g., collaborative research schemes, licensing of patented university inventions), attract a great deal of policy attention in considering academic entrepreneurship as a means to connect more closely scientifi c creativity and market opportunities. Traditionally, several arguments justify public support for ASUs. They concern fi rst information / knowledge asymmetries and R&D market imperfections (Hall, 2002 ; Schneider and Veugelers, 2010 ; Takalo and Tanayama, 2010 ). A second argument in favor of public support is that, while developing breakthrough technologies, ASUs can generate social benefits that are in excess of the private returns they can capture (Nelson, 1959 ). From a macro policy perspective ASUs can critically contribute to overall creativity of the economic system by acting as engines in the industry exploration-exploitation discovery cycle (Gilsing and Nooteboom, 2006 ). In this respect ASUs can be seen as a key resource in the collective creativity process both through failure and success (McGrath, 1999 ). Third, when the environment is taken into account, there is the necessity, because of the double externality problem (Jaffe et al ., 2005 ), to coordinate innovation and environmental policies to reduce negative external costs. In this context, ASUs have the potential through breakthrough innovations to contribute to technological regime shifts and improve the social efficiency of environmental policies.