This study contributes to academic research on social innovation in innovation habitats. For the development of the research, the systematic methodology was used for the literature review of international databases, without cut-off dates for the searches. This is a qualitative, transversal case study with a non-experimental approach and the application of content analysis. Following a systematic analysis of the bibliography, a theoretical business framework for social innovation is presented, as a guide for the applicability of the theme in business projects and startups. This work also analyses the content of six pre-incubated startups in the technological hotel of a federal public university in southwestern Paraná, as an innovation habitat. The main results point to the focus on social innovation in the categories of sustainable business models, social entrepreneurship and responses to social needs employed by startups, as well as applying most of the elements of the theoretical framework. Discussions arising from the analysis include the role of startups and innovation habitats as agents of social transformation in the theoretical models found.