This paper investigates the unaddressed potential of social ventures to implement social and
technological innovations. The innovative activities of social ventures serving populations at the
base of the pyramid (BOP) provide relevant evidence. Resource based theory and the concept of
business ecosystems provided constructs to be operationalized through case evidence, while case
studies helped integrate and adapt these theories to illuminate social entrepreneurship. The
framework provides a basis for comparing two different social ventures creating value at the
BOP: a technology-based social venture and another undertaking health delivery. These ventures
enabled user interaction and feedback and enlisted public-private partnerships. The cases show
how social ventures can develop innovative business models that combine internal resources
with external resources from their ecosystem in order to build shared value. The conceptual
framework can be used to identify key features of other cases of entrepreneurial value creation in
conditions of povert
