The document discusses the significance of corporate collaboration with startups as a strategy for innovation within larger companies, emphasizing its recent rise in importance and the trends driving this change. It outlines various approaches and challenges involved in such collaborations, highlighting the complementary strengths of startups and the structural difficulties faced by corporations. Inovo offers assistance in designing innovation systems and facilitating specific collaboration initiatives to enhance strategic growth opportunities.

1. Corporate/Startup Collaboration
Why and How Large Companies Should Build Startup Collaboration Into Their Innovation Systems
Copyright © 2018 The Inovo Group, LLC
November 6, 2018

2. Outline of the Document
Introduction01.
Importance of startup collaboration02.
Challenges and approaches03.
How Inovo can help04.
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3. Introduction

4. Startup Collaboration Refers to a Broad Set of Approaches by Large
Companies to Gain Win-Win Synergies with Startups
CVC has been around for more than 50 years, in two forms:
› Strategic CVC: objective is to increase sales and profits by exploiting synergies with startups (access to new
technologies, markets or resources)
› Financial CVC: objective is to gain investment returns through startup “exits” such as initial public offerings
(IPOs) or sales of stakes to third parties
Strategic CVC can be an enabler of startup collaboration but is neither necessary nor
sufficient
Startup collaboration is a more recent phenomenon that seeks the same outcome as
strategic CVC but in a more robust way
Startup collaboration should not be confused with corporate venture capital (CVC)
CVC can be viewed as a proxy for the level of corporate interest in startup collaboration
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5. Startup Collaboration Should Be Viewed as a Subsystem Within a
Company’s Broader Strategic Innovation System
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Strategic Innovation System ArchitectureA
› Business strategy
› Innovation strategy
› Futures
› Domains
› Startup scouts
› Si Valley outpost
› Matchmakers
› Passive CVC
› Collab. promotion
STARTUPS
› Crowdsourcing
› Voice of customer
› Field research
› Ideation events
› Tech scouts
ORGANIC
Opportunity
Management
Platform
Sustaining
Innovation
Strategic
Innovation
Strategic InputsB
Opportunity Sourcing and ManagementC Portfolio ManagementD
DiscoveryE IncubationF AccelerationG
› Existing BU
› New BU
› External
Modes of Startup
Collaboration
Investment/Equity Commercial Relations Co-Creation

6. Importance of Startup Collaboration

7. Six Key Trends are Pushing Corporate Interest in Startup Collaboration to
an All-Time High
Increasing cash reserves along with ongoing takeover pressure to utilize the cash
productively
02.
Startups increasingly see the benefits of collaborating with corporations05.
Rapidly expanding startup ecosystem around the world01.
Increasing FOMO…fear of missing out…always a factor during a frenzy06.
03. Declining confidence in R&D for innovation outside the core
› especially in digital technologies for non-digital product companies
New modes of collaboration are evolving that don’t require large capital investments04.
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8. Corporate participation in deals up from
$8B to $37B
› 27% to 46% of total VC funding
› Could exceed $50B in 2018
Growth in “% of deals” up from 11% to 16%
(2017)
› 22% in 2Q 2018
Using CVC as a Proxy, the Level of Corporate Interest in Startup
Collaboration has More than Quadrupled Since 2010 (U.S.)
8Copyright © 2018 The Inovo Group, LLC
Corporate Participation in Venture Deals in the U.S.
(2010 to 2Q 2018)
Source: Venture Pulse, Q2'18. Global Analysis of Venture Funding, KPMG Enterprise. Data provided by PitchBook, July 12, 2018
NOTE: The capital invested is the sum of all the round values in which corporate venture capital investors
participated, not the amount of corporate venture capital invested. Likewise, the percentage of deals is calculated
by taking the number of rounds in which corporate venture firms participated over total deals.

9. A Corporate/Startup Collaboration Conference in Paris in May 2018 is
Indicative of the Level of Interest
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10. In a 2016 Survey of Large Companies, 64% Reported Startup
Collaboration as Important (41%) or Mission Critical (23%)
10Copyright © 2018 The Inovo Group, LLC
23%
41
%
Source: The State of Startup/Corporate Collaboration, 2016; joint research study by Imaginatik and MassChallenge; 2016

11. “Healthcare” at ~25%
› Pharma/biotech, devices, services
While the Level of Startup Activity Varies Greatly by Industry…
11Copyright © 2018 The Inovo Group, LLC
Number of Closed Deals
(2014-2018)
VC Invested, $billion
(2014-2018)
Source: Venture Pulse, Q2'18. Global Analysis of Venture Funding, KPMG Enterprise. Data provided by PitchBook, July 12, 2018
Software sector at ~40%
In the range of 1-3% each
› IT hardware
› Consumer goods
› Energy
› Commercial services
› Media
“Other” comprises 20%

12. …Companies in Sectors Outside Software and Healthcare are Realizing
the Need to Be Active in the Startup Space
12Copyright © 2018 The Inovo Group, LLC
Reasons to be Active Examples
Disruption from outside your own sector
› renewables vs oil & gas
› biotechnology vs food & ag
Disruption from the “software” sector
› ride/car sharing vs automotive
› social vs traditional media
Opportunity to enhance physical products and
services via digital technology
› voice recognition
› machine learning
› augmented/virtual reality
Opportunity to transform internal business
processes and business models via technology
› additive manufacturing
› enterprise software-as-a-service
› industrial IoT
Source: Inovo Corporate/Startup Collaboration Roundtable; October 2018

13. Challenges and Approaches

14. Startups Offer Complementary Strengths to Corporations
Startup Strengths Corporate Weaknesses
Agility in search for optimal product-market fit
Slow decision-making; inflexible business processes;
complex/shared accountabilities
New technology / intellectual property
Holes in IP in new growth domains (especially digital tech
for non-digital companies)
Willingness to take risks Financial and career risk aversion
Willingness to challenge status quo Fear of cannibalization or obsolescence
Lower downside to market failure Failures are more visible and scrutinized
High risk, high reward incentives Homogenized incentive system
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15. But There are Also Clear Challenges to Collaboration
15Copyright © 2018 The Inovo Group, LLC
Finding and selecting the right startups in a complex global landscape01.
Choosing the right collaboration mode for each startup partner02.
Structuring interfaces between a small simple startup structure and a large complex
corporate structure
03.
Agreeing on exit objectives and terms with both the startups and VC partners04.
Mismatch in pace of activity and decision-making speed05.
Rationalizing incentive structures when both corporate and startup people are
engaged on a shared objective
06.
Lack of trust and failure to operate transparently and exchange information freely07.

16. The Initial Challenge is Finding the Right Startups in a Complex Global
Landscape…Nine Approaches in Use Today
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Startup Scouting
(you find them)
Collaboration
Promotion
(they find you)
Internal scouts…predominant approach today
External accelerators…sponsor, attend, connect
Silicon Valley outposts…go where they are
Matchmaking platforms…initial screening
Intelligent search tools…general and startup-specific
02.
03.
04.
05.
01.
06. Passive venture capital…let VC partners do the scouting
PR and sponsorship…marketing your collaboration interest and capability
Competitions & prizes…financial incentives
07.
08.
09. Internal accelerators…”no strings attached” space, equipment, guidance

17. Another Hurdle is Determining the Right Mode(s) of Collaboration for
Every Startup Instance…Ten Primary Modes in Use Today
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Investment/
Equity
Strategic venture capital (CVC)…using money to get equity and influence02.
Strategic acquisition (M&A)…gain full control03.
Mechanisms for infusing cash…convertible note loan, direct grants01.
Commercial
Relations
Startup as customer…gain influence by providing free goods & services05.
Startup as supplier…revenue can be more valuable than capital06.
Information exchange…understand each other; due diligence04.
Technology licensing…in either direction; probably with exclusivity07.
Co-Creation Excubator (inside-out startups)…build-your-own startups09.
Co-development (outside-out startups)…external joint development10.
Incubator (outside-in startups)…provide space, expertise, labs, etc.08.

18. How Inovo Can Help

19. Five Areas Where Inovo Can Provide Assistance to Corporates With
Startup Collaboration
Innovation System Design-Build: design and build an overall strategic
innovation system, including a startup collaboration sub-system
02.
Co-Creation: assist with specific startup collaboration initiatives to co-create
strategic growth opportunities
05.
Innovation Strategy: build the case for an overall strategic innovation system,
including a startup collaboration sub-system
01.
04. Discovery: scouting and screening to identify compelling startup collaboration
opportunities
Domaining: identify areas of opportunity (domains) that narrow the field of
potential startups to a manageable number
03.
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