1) The document discusses collaboration between large corporations and entrepreneurs in clusters. It notes that large companies are becoming more open to innovation from outside through platforms and scouts. 2) Entrepreneurs benefit from partnerships by gaining access to markets and customers to scale up, but face challenges in bureaucracy and lack of understanding from large partners. The project aims to study examples of successful partnerships and develop tools and programs to facilitate collaboration. 3) One case study described is a partnership between meat company Friland and genetics startup Genoskan to jointly develop DNA markers to test meat quality, benefiting both parties.

1. David meets Goliath: Collaboration between
entrepreneurs and large corporations in clusters
Lotte Langkilde
Parallel 4.2 Topics on New Cluster Trends
12 November 2014

2. David meets Goliath:
Collaboration between
entrepreneurs and large
corporations in clusters
Lotte Langkilde, REG X/University of
Southern Denmark
Lot@sdu.dk

3. What we do
TRAINHIGH LEVEL POLICY MAKERS
CLUSTER MANAGERS
ANALYSECLUSTERS
UNDERSTAND
GROW
REGIONAL
ECONOMY

4. Questions we need
to ask
1) What happens in clusters in terms of
entrepreneurship
2) How do large companies innovate?

5. 1) What happens in clusters in terms
of entrepreneurship
BUT……….

6. 2) How do large companies innovate?

7. • From: Not invented here
• To: Proudly found elsewhere

8. Companies are opening up
THE OI FUNNEL

10. Entrepreneurs and innovative SMEs
• Need to test and develop their product before
they can commercialize the product
• Need access the market and customers to
scale their product/service
• Need the right network to connect to

13. • IT Platforms (ideas, IP´s, licence)
• Technology scouts (eg Innocentive)

15. I cannot get a
clear decision
from anyone
in the large
firm
The large firms don’t
realize that we could
develop a better
product for half the
cost and half the time
Working with
large firms
takes a lot of
bureaucracy
They ignore
the fact that
we have IP to
protect
They waste our time
before they are ready to
partner. They need a
better understanding of
to work with a firm like
ours
Many entrepreneurs
do not respect our
internal processes of
screening for ideas
They
ignore that
we have IP
to protect
We have
external
regulations and
internal policies
to follow

18. The project
• How: 1) screening for large and small companies working
together 2)interviews 3)roadmap for collaboration
• Outcome: Case studies, a model + toolbox for collaboration
+ entrepreneirship teaching programmes + pilot test
• Partners: Danish Food Cluster, Future Food Innovation,
IDEA Entrepreneurship center og University of Southern
Danmark (lead)
• Financing: The Danish Industry Foundation

19. Case: Friland and Genoskan
• 20 mio. pigs / yr
• 600.000 cows
• Export:
• 4 % af total DK export
• 39% of total food export
• 2nd largest exporter of meat
• 1st exporter of pigs
• Friland is an international food
company marketing and selling organic
meat and meat from free-range
animals.
• part of the Danish Crown Group
• the largest player in Europe in the
organic meat market.

20. Case: GenoSkan + Friland
• University spin-out (Foulum research
center)

21. The problem?
• Friland: Needed a method/technology to
control the quality of the meat they were
selling
• Genoskan: They had a new technology
(selection of genetic markers in animals´dna) –
but no commercial insight and how to put the
technology to market

22. Solution
Joint development of DNA marked for testing the
quality of meat (tenderness, fat concentration and
taste)
Benefit
Friland: They can select the best animals ->
higher quality  higher price
Genoskan: test and access to market

23. Questions we ask companies:
What was your problem?
Why couldn´t couldn´t you solve this problem?
How did you solve the problem?
What did you get out of it (payoff)?
Could you have solved this problem alone?
Is this form for collaboration new for your company?

25. ..under development

26. Application
Collaboration
Matchmaking
Preparation
Crash!!
Change
Roadmap

27. Why is this
important for
cluster
management?

28. Because cluster managers
can connect large
companies and
entrepreneurs in new
ways!

29. Collaboration and knowledge sharing lead
to innovation…we know all that but…
New role for
cluster managers:
Brooker between
large companies
and
entrepreneurs
Uncover
expectations

32. Who is influencing who? 

33. Thank you