Entrepreneurial ecosystems and regional development: evidence from a Quadruple Helix innovation centre

This paper examines how entrepreneurial initiatives developed within a Technological Innovation Center (TIC) contribute to regional development through the lens of the Quadruple Helix. Drawing on a qualitative case study of the Farroupilha Federal Institute (Brazil), the study investigates interactions among university, industry, government, and society actors and their implications for territorial development. The analysis combines bibliographic and documentary research with 44 semi-structured interviews conducted across 11 campuses and the institutional rectorate. The findings reveal that the university helix plays a dominant role in driving entrepreneurial initiatives, particularly through knowledge transfer, innovation support, and capacity-building activities. However, interactions among the four helices remain uneven, with limited articulation among non-academic actors, resulting in coordination gaps within the regional innovation system. The study demonstrates that the effectiveness of entrepreneurial initiatives is strongly conditioned by the intensity, balance, and coordination of Quadruple Helix interactions, particularly in territorially embedded and institutionally asymmetric contexts. By positioning Technological Innovation Centers as context-dependent innovation intermediaries, the study highlights their role in orchestrating governance dynamics and multi-actor collaboration, contributing to debates on regional planning, innovation ecosystems, and place-based development.