Students often identify practical environmental problems: energy wasted in buildings, food discarded by businesses, difficult recycling systems or transport options that do not meet user needs. A student project can explore such a problem, but a green startup must also show that people will use the proposed solution and that the business can remain financially viable.
Universities can help students connect environmental purpose with digital and business competence. The process starts with understanding a specific problem and continues through testing, measurement and revision.
A promising idea begins with a specific user and situation. Reducing food waste, for example, is a broad ambition. Helping a university canteen predict demand and redistribute safe surplus meals is a problem that a student team can investigate and test. Students can interview users, observe current practices and examine available data before proposing a solution. This research often changes the original idea. The main obstacle may not be a lack of technology. It could be unclear responsibility, regulation, cost or inconvenient user behaviour. Discovering that early saves time and gives the team a more realistic basis for design.
Test a small solution and measure environmental value
Students do not need a complete product to learn whether an idea is useful. They can create a simple prototype, manual service or limited pilot. A team developing an energy dashboard could first test whether building users understand the proposed indicators and whether the information influences their decisions.
Early tests should answer one question at a time. Do users understand the offer? Will an organization provide the necessary data? Does the intervention reduce energy use, waste or another environmental impact? Clear tests produce evidence that helps the team improve the solution or abandon weak assumptions.
A green startup should be able to explain how its activity improves environmental performance. The selected indicator must match the problem. It might measure kilowatt-hours saved, kilograms of material reused, litres of water conserved or the percentage of journeys shifted to a lower-emission option.
Teams should state the baseline, measurement period and boundaries of their calculation. They should also consider rebound effects and impacts elsewhere in the system. A digital service may reduce travel while requiring new equipment and computing resources. Transparent measurement makes an environmental claim more credible and helps customers evaluate the solution.
Building a workable business model
A useful green solution still needs customers, a way to deliver value and enough revenue or funding to continue. Students should identify who benefits, who pays and why the offer is preferable to current practice. They also need to estimate costs, identify potential partners, understand regulatory requirements and consider how the solution could reach its market.
Universities can support this work through mentoring, incubators and cooperation with companies or public institutions. Industry partners can provide real problems and feedback. Teachers can help teams connect technical design with sustainability assessment, budgeting and communication. Failure in a small pilot can be valuable when students document what they have learned and use that knowledge to improve the next version.
The team should also decide how responsibilities will change if the pilot grows. A solution that works with ten voluntary users may require customer support, data-protection procedures, maintenance and reliable suppliers at a larger scale. Discussing these needs early helps students understand that implementation is part of innovation rather than an administrative task added at the end.
A student startup journey from Split, Croatia
A recent example from the University of Split illustrates how a student idea can progress towards the market. Adios, a digital platform for tourist transport and excursions, was developed by Nino Uvanović and Amadej Stanić, students of Computing at the University Department of Professional Studies, together with Nikola Vuletić, a student at Faculty of Electrical Engineering, Mechanical Engineering and Naval Architecture.
The idea emerged in March 2025 and was gradually developed into a technological and business solution intended to improve the safety and transparency of tourist transport services. The platform allows passengers to follow the progress of an excursion, view current and upcoming locations, check the estimated completion time and access information about the driver and vehicle.
During its first months, Adios established cooperation with 24 partner companies and attracted more than 1,000 users. The team also became a tenant of SPINIT at Technology Park Split, gaining access to workspace and the local startup community. In September 2026, the students presented their solution at the Innovate Split conference. Their experience shows how technical knowledge, user needs, business development and institutional support can help a student initiative move beyond the classroom.
Adios is primarily a digital tourism startup and should not be described as a green startup without evidence of measurable environmental benefits. However, it also shows how an existing digital solution could examine its environmental contribution. Defining a baseline and measuring these effects would allow the startup to assess whether it creates environmental value in addition to improving the user experience. Read more about Adios and its development at the link.
The University of Split has also created a more direct pathway for green student entrepreneurship. The Greenpreneur programme, implemented by the Student Business Incubator at the Faculty of Economics, Business and Tourism introduced students to idea validation, market research, financial planning, sustainability and innovation. The programme gave priority to green, sustainable and digital solutions and connected students with domestic and international mentors. It demonstrates how universities can create structured support for students who want to turn environmental problems into viable business ideas. Learn more about the Greenpreneur programme at the link.
A question for readers
A green startup grows from evidence rather than enthusiasm alone. Students must understand a real problem, test their assumptions, measure environmental value and develop a feasible way to deliver the solution. These competencies remain useful even when the original idea changes.
What environmental problem on your campus or in your community could become a student-led experiment? Explore GreenTech Horizons] for more ideas on connecting education, innovation and entrepreneurship.
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Ivana Ninčević Pašalić, Assistant Professor, Faculty of Economics, Business and Tourism, University of Split.
Ivana is an Assistant Professor of Business Informatics at the Faculty of Economics, Business and Tourism, University of Split. Her academic and project work focuses on digital and green transformation, smart cities, information systems and the development of future-oriented competencies. Within GreenTech Horizons, she contributes to connecting higher education with the digital, green and entrepreneurial skills needed for sustainable innovation.
