Dr Tobias Froese is a senior researcher in the Sustainable Entrepreneurship research area at the Borderstep Institute. His research focuses on sustainable business models, impact measurement and alternative value creation approaches such as sufficiency strategies. Since the beginning of 2025, he has also been a research assistant in the project Transformation of the Energy System of Lower Saxony (TEN.efzn) at the University of Oldenburg. In this role, he investigates diffusion paths of technical and social energy innovations.

Prior to his current position, Tobias Froese worked as a postdoc at ESCP Business School. Among other contributions, he co-authored a study on sustainable business models in Germany in collaboration with the Bertelsmann Foundation.

Tobias completed his doctorate summa cum laude from ESCP Business School in February 2024. In his dissertation, he researched sustainable and degrowth-oriented business models as well as their respective value creation potentials. A highlight of his doctorate was the organisation of the international New Business Models Conference 2019. As part of this conference, he has been organising an annual conference track on “New Theoretical Foundations of Business Models for Sustainability” together with Prof. Dr. Lüdeke-Freund .

Prior to his doctorate, Tobias earned a Master’s degree in International Business and Sustainability at the University of Hamburg and a Bachelor’s degree in Design and Project Management at the University of Applied Sciences Südwestfalen.

Alongside his academic career, Tobias Froese gained valuable practical experience in product development, innovation management, sustainability management and compliance management. He gained this experience in companies such as Beiersdorf, Philips and Humana.

Before starting his academic career, Tobias Froese completed a voluntary social year in Ireland. In his free time, he now enjoys playing table tennis, hiking and spending time with friends in his allotment garden in the summer.