Sopra Steria Open Innovation Report 2023

Surviving the Storm: how corporate-startup
collaboration is the key to thriving amid

economic turbulence
Open Innovation Report 2023 Surviving the Storm
Contents
01. Opening up to
Open Innovation
02. Corporate-startup
collaboration in Europe
03. What is driving

Open Innovation?
04. Mind the

collaboration pitfalls
05. The keys

to success
06. Open Innovation:

today and tomorrow
07. About our

survey
Appendix
2 • 38
Executive
Summary
Economic slowdowns, supply chain breakdowns, public and private, from 10 European countries to
unprecedented competition for talent, not to evaluate how the corporate-startup collaboration
mention a plethora of game-changing tech phenomenon across Europe is evolving.
solutions hitting the market: today’s corporates
must navigate an intimidating array of challenges. The results show that such collaborations are
now mainstream. Almost 3 in 4 (72%) European
Add to that a consumer base with ever-growing corporates that responded to our survey have
expectations combined with ever-shrinking loyalty: launched Open Innovation projects with startups.
welcome to today’s hyper-competitive commercial Furthermore, two-thirds (67%) rated startup
marketplace, where corporates are caught in a collaboration as Important or Mission Critical for
constant battle to not only grow but expand their their organisation’s strategy.
competitive advantage – all with smaller budgets.
The rapidly growing interest in Open Innovation
As successive economic data confirms, Europe is likely due to a combination of factors, including
is unnervingly close to tipping into recession and a higher awareness of Open Innovation models
pressure on company finances throughout the and a general surge in demand for innovation,
value chain has never been greater. combined with a new familiarity with collaboration
tools since the Covid-19 pandemic normalised
Amid such a gloomy economic outlook, remote working.
corporates traditionally prioritise short-term
projects over long, and downscale innovation Open Innovation is no longer simply a marketing
plans that lack concrete financial benefit. exercise. It has become mainstream, already
Companies become more risk averse, and R&D reshaping the products, services and business
projects with their unpredictable and long-term practices of some of the world’s largest
ROIs become frequent casualties, losing out to conglomerates.
traditional, core business activities in the battle
for budget allocation. A total of 69% of corporates say they want
to collaborate with startups within the next 18
However, an increasing number of corporates are months. Companies that fail to recognise and take
now leveraging the power of Open Innovation advantage of the Open Innovation phenomenon
to supercharge their R&D projects and work with risk finding their most promising potential startup
smaller, agile startups, allowing them to pioneer partner already working with their most fierce rival.
new solutions and steal a march on rivals, without
losing control of costs.
Working with Ipsos and INSEAD professors, we

carried out a comprehensive survey of some
1,648 startups and corporate organisations, both
3 • 38
Other key
Survey findings
► 50% of corporate-startup collaborations
launched during or after the pandemic.
► Italy and Benelux show most enthusiasm for

Open Innovation (80%) while Germany shows
least (57%), surprising due to Berlin’s position
as a leading European startup capital.
► 89% of corporates who managed collaborations

using a dedicated business unit always achieved
their objectives.
► Collaboration is most popular in the aerospace

industry, with 100% of corporates having already
collaborated with startups.
► The desire to discover unknown business

opportunities is the most popular objective
driving corporates to work with startups (46%).
► The biggest blockers to collaboration were

perceived incompatibilities between corporates
and startups due to legal and regulatory issues
(14%) and low risk tolerance (13.7%).
► 55% of corporates used third-party intermediaries

to manage Open Innovation projects, and their
involvement dramatically boosts project success.
► Sustainability, Artificial Intelligence and

Cybersecurity are the top three topics corporates
aim to explore in collaboration with startups.
4 • 38
01. Opening up to
Open Innovation
Open Innovation means opening up business
58% 78%
challenges to external partners. This can
happen through challenge-based invitations,
hackathons, meet-ups, or round tables with
expert groups. Collaborations are often managed Proportion of Corporates satisfied
with the assistance of third-party intermediaries project-based with project
experienced in working with both small and large collaborations collaborations
organisations.
For corporates, Open Innovation is a way to

boost innovation capabilities while avoiding the
risks and expenses commonly associated with
in-house innovation. In some cases, corporates Why Open
can save considerable time and money by
partnering with a startup that has already Innovation?
developed a concept that matches their needs.
For startups, Open Innovation offers a chance ► Decrease R&D costs and risks
to scale, with easier access to markets, financial through shared development
investment and scalable delivery mechanisms
plus market credibility. ► Accelerate time-to-market by drawing
on external and existing technology
According to our research, 58% of Open and expertise
Innovation initiatives in Europe involve project-
based collaboration. In this format, partners ► Increase differentiation and new-to-
try to overcome a discrete challenge, such as market factors through a higher
developing proofs of concept (POC), prototype degree of innovation
testing, minimal viable products (MVP), or research
projects. The format is highly successful with 78%
of corporates and 81% of startups reporting they
were satisfied or very satisfied with the results of
this type of collaboration.
Open Innovation within this report will thus

focus specifically on project-based collaboration
between startups and corporates in both the
public and private sector.
5 • 38
02. Corporate-startup
collaboration in Europe
A little-known phenomenon only a decade ago, Open Innovation is rapidly
becoming a core strategy for corporates, boosted in part by the Covid-19
pandemic, which familiarised companies with how to work remotely with
both internal and external partners.
6 • 38
More recently, as a succession of gloomy

economic metrics lays plain, Europe is teetering
unnervingly close to recession as the war in How important is
Ukraine, high energy prices and inflation put
pressure on corporate and consumer budgets.
startup collaboration
for corporates?
To take the temperature of Open Innovation
Figure 1: The importance of startup collaboration for
across Europe, we conducted a survey of corporates in different countries.
1,648 corporates and startups in 10 European
countries: UK, France, Italy, Spain, Germany,
Sweden, Norway, Belgium, the Netherlands and UK GERMANY
Luxembourg, with the three latter countries
grouped as Benelux.
COLLABORATION AS A
STRATEGIC PRIORITY 19% 81% 3% 31% 66%
Almost three-quarters (72%) of the 443 corporates SPAIN FRANCE

surveyed had collaborated with startups, with
50% reporting they had started collaboration
during or after the Covid-19 pandemic. Local
language and proximity still play a key role in
collaboration selection for corporates, with 62%
favouring partnerships with companies from their 21% 79% 47% 53%
own country.
ITALY BENELUX
Italy and Benelux showed most enthusiasm for
Open Innovation (80%) while Germany showed
least (57%), surprising due to Berlin’s position as
a leading European startup capital.
15% 85% 41% 59%

A total of 84% of corporates believe in the value
of leveraging external knowledge. Rather than
just a nice-to-have, Open Innovation is judged NORWAY SWEDEN
as either Important or Mission Critical by two-
thirds (67%) of corporates, with UK and Italian
corporates giving it the highest premium.
Very few, only 6%, find it unimportant.
4% 34% 62% 3% 50% 48%
72%
Corporates that
67%
Corporates rating
Important + Mission Critical
Unimportant + Slightly Important
Don’t know
have launched collaboration as
Open Innovation Important or
projects Mission Critical
7 • 38
How popular is Open

Innovation among surveyed
firms in Europe?
Figure 2: Corporates who have collaborated
with startups by country.
NORWAY 77%
SWEDEN 77%
UK 61% BENELUX 80%
GERMANY 57%
FRANCE 70%
SPAIN 75%
ITALY 80%
UPWARD CURVE
The rapidly growing interest in Open Innovation
50% 58%
likely stems from a combination of factors,
including a higher awareness of Open Innovation
models, a general surge in demand for innovation,
and a new familiarity with collaboration tools since Corporates who Proportion of
the Covid-19 pandemic normalised remote working. have launched corporates achieving
collaborations objectives all or most
Of those corporates who have collaborated during or after the of the time
with startups, 50% of them started to collaborate Covid-19 pandemic
during or after the pandemic, with the other 50%
having collaborated for 3 years or more, although
a long experience with collaborations appears to
be no guarantee of success.
8 • 38
The success rate of collaborations would also their goals more than two-thirds of the time (71%),
seem to have improved, with 58% of corporates while Norway has the lowest level of objectives
involved in startup collaborations saying they are achieved, with only 44% of collaborations
satisfied with the outcome and have achieved achieving their goals.
their objectives. This is a significant rise compared
to the 50% success rate recorded in our 2021 Open A key factor in achieving goals appears to be
Innovation report, Mind the Gap, which focused on the mechanism used to manage the relationship
corporate-startup collaboration in Norway. between the corporate and the startup. Almost
90% of corporates who always achieved their
objectives had a dedicated department or
NO LONGER NICHE business unit to manage the interaction. Startups
and corporates work in radically different ways
As Open Innovation becomes ever more and a facilitator – either internal or external –
mainstream, successful collaborations are ensures partnerships achieve maximum potential
becoming the norm. Our data shows that 81% (see Chapter 5).
of corporates are satisfied with the experience of
collaboration projects and almost two-thirds (58%) Using external partners such as Sopra Steria to
say they have achieved their objectives all or help facilitate Open Innovation projects can also
most of the time, while 41% categorise it as half have a significant impact on success. Only half of
of the time or sometimes. corporates who did not use an external partner
reported meeting their objectives all or most of
However, achievement rates vary by region, with the time, compared to more than two-thirds for
collaborations in Italy getting the highest level corporates who did use a third-party intermediary.
of success, with corporates here succeeding in
Objectives achieved by region

Figure 3: How often corporates in different countries have achieved their objectives
UK GERMANY SPAIN FRANCE
33% 67% 48% 52% 2% 36% 62% 33% 67%
ITALY BENELUX NORWAY SWEDEN
29% 71% 41% 59% 2% 54% 44% 3% 53% 45%
Always or Most of the time About half or Sometimes Never or Don’t know
9 • 38
APPETITE FOR OPEN INNOVATION VARIES
The popularity and success of corporate-startup

collaborations are not consistent across all Importance of
industries. Aerospace leads the charge in Open
Innovation collaboration, with 100% of corporates
collaboration by
quizzed reporting to have collaborated with industry sector
startups, closely followed by insurance (95%)
Figure 4: The importance of startup collaboration for
and energy and utilities (88%). corporates in different industries
Public sector organisations reported the least

collaborations (58%), with defence and homeland Telecommunication
security second-lowest at 65%. 78%
22%
Media & Entertainment

71%
58%
29%
Public sector organisations
reported least enthusiasm Transport
for Open Innovation 57%
39%
3%
Energy and Utilities

51%
49%
In terms of strategic importance, legal and
financial services are the industries which rate Insurance
56%
collaboration most highly, at 85% and 82% 44%
respectively, closely followed by telecoms at 78%.
Financial Services
82%
Our research cannot explain what is driving these 17%
1%
differing appetites, but we do see a correlation
between the reported success of collaborations Public Sector and Government
65%
and a high strategic importance rating, at least 35%
for the legal and telecoms sectors.
Aerospace
59%
Legal services and telecoms reported the highest 41%
level of success in their startup collaborations,
Legal Services
with 75% and 69% reporting that they achieve 85%
their objectives all or most of the time. Financial 15%
services were an outlier (second from the bottom Health
on this scale), with corporates always or mostly 67%
29%
achieving their goals only 61% of the time. 5%
Retail Industry
71%
29%
Defence & Homeland Security

64%
36%
Important and/or mission critical

Slightly important or unimportant
Don’t know
10 • 38
CASE STUDY
The corporate view:

Learning from and supporting
Norway’s startups
Maria Archontoulis
Lead Startup Partnerships and Accelerator,
Partnerships & Innovation, DNB
“Startup collaboration is becoming more and program together with StartupLab, allowing the
more important for us. We can’t build everything company to select companies that have a strategic
ourselves. Working with startups is key to fit with DNB and a potential for a future partnership.
achieving our targets,” says Maria Archontoulis,
Lead Startup Partnerships and Accelerator, “For three months, the startups work closely
Partnerships & Innovation, DNB, Norway’s largest with relevant domain experts from the bank to
financial services group. overcome hurdles and explore opportunities,”
continues Maria.
DNB works regularly with startups and in her
opinion, success relies on three key factors: “It is critical for us to identify an internal lead for
competence, dedicated resources, and long-term every case that has the mindset of being curious,
perspective. bold, and collaborative.”
“We have a central team of partnership experts After six years of corporate-startup partnerships,
that work across the bank to professionalise DNB has seen that there are four key areas to be
external innovation,” she explains. aware of: technical capabilities, buy-in, process,
and cultural fit.
“Startup partnerships is one of our priority
areas because of the high level of talent and “Flexibility of IT systems, the level of buy-in, the
technological development. Teaming up with human factor and level of trust are all going to
startups and identifying win-win opportunities has impact your chances to create results and the
led to new features in our channels, increased over-all process,” says Maria, adding: “If you are
innovation in our products, as well as enabling still considering if you should start working with
the acceleration of our green shift. We see that startups, just do it!
through partnerships we can in some cases have
a faster time-to-market than building in-house.”
DNB has systemised its corporate-startup

collaboration process through an accelerator
11 • 38
CASE STUDY
The startup view:

Reconciling corporate-startup
business styles in France
Zuzanna Stamirowska
CEO at Pathway
The two key challenges in corporate-startup

collaboration concern people and budgets, says
Zuzanna Stamirowska, CEO of Pathway, a Paris-
based programming framework for delivering
smart and reactive data products in real-time.
The first challenge is in finding the right person

to talk to, i.e. someone who combines a hands-
on approach with a good understanding of the
technology.
Second, making sure that this person has a

budget to launch collaboration swiftly, ideally
with a lighter procurement process.
“The cycles of decision-making take up to a year

within the big corporations. When you know that
a startup should gather funds every 18 months,
it becomes complex to match these two, very
different, timelines.”
The biggest pain point in startup-corporate

collaboration is a lack of predictability. Some
projects may fail simply for internal political
reasons. Small companies cannot afford to have
a legion of lobbyists and salespeople to work on
navigating labyrinthine corporation organisational
charts.
“The key to successful collaborations lies in

transparency from the corporates in terms of
alignment on the common objectives and clarity
on how to move forward,” she concludes.”
12 • 38
03. What is driving

Open Innovation?
Innovation is a key mechanism for preserving and
growing market share and profitability, always
essential and even more closely monitored amid
periods of economic pressure.
According to our report findings, the lure of

discovering unknown business opportunities is
the most common draw for corporates seeking
out startup partnerships (46%), with creation of
new solutions a close second at 45%. The third
most popular objective was the goal of improving
internal business practices (38%).
EXPLORE UNEXPECTED OPPORTUNITIES

THROUGH TECH
Through collaborating with startups, corporates can

become exposed to completely new technologies
and unexpected ideas. This exposure can help
them identify new market opportunities. In our
study, we found that 84% of corporates are driven
by this desire to leverage external knowledge.
They find it valuable to broaden their horizons by
looking outside the organisation’s boundaries for
fresh ideas, knowledge, and competence.
84%
Corporates seeking
collaborations to leverage
external knowledge
13 • 38
Johnson & Johnson’s mission is to unlock the potential of life sciences

innovation, no matter where it originates. Through collaboration,
we seek to identify, empower, and enable potential breakthrough
healthcare ideas from SMEs across the globe.
Mohammed Hannan
Head of Digital Innovation, Johnson & Johnson
14 • 38
CREATE AND EXPERIMENT WITH

NEW SOLUTIONS
With an Open Innovation approach, corporates

seek to fill the knowledge gaps with immediate
What’s in it for
access to expertise. Instead of starting from the startups?
scratch, they can partner with a startup that has
already developed the solution they need. This
will significantly reduce time-to-market given that
a startup may already have spent a number of ACCESS TO MARKET
years developing a product or technology.
50%
OPTIMISE INTERNAL PROCESSES
Startups often expose corporates to new ways

of working. Unencumbered by traditional company Figure 5: Access to market
structures, startups tend to be characterised by (customers & partners) 50%.
a hyper-creative and entrepreneurial mindset with
high levels of autonomy and agility. In addition,
their culture is often one of transparency, trust, ACCESS TO FINANCIAL CAPITAL
and shared values. There are exceptions to
the rule of course, but a key reason why our 44%
respondents are engaging in startup collaboration
is to allow inspirational culture and ways-of-
working to add value to their own organisation.
Figure 6: Access to financial capital

(funding & investors) 44%.
ACCESS TO HUMAN CAPITAL
33%
Figure 7: Access to human capital

(mentors, experts & employees) 33%.
15 • 38
04. Mind the

collaboration pitfalls
When a large hierarchical organisation where

hundreds or thousands of employees have learned
to navigate cumbersome systems, protocols and
interdepartmental decision-making requirements
decides to work with a flat-structure, fast-paced
What are the biggest
and creative startup, used to a rapid decision- collaboration blockers?
making team, the journey is not always smooth. Figure 8: Biggest barriers for corporates when
collaborating with startups.
However, forewarned is forearmed, and by
launching any collaboration aware of the likely
challenges you can better manage them and
reduce their impact, especially with the help of Legal and regulatory constraints
(e.g., privacy, security, compliance)
a third-party intermediary who understands the 14%
way both organisations operate and can facilitate
the relationship. Low risk tolerance
14%
Corporates’ opinions were quite evenly split on
their view of the most significant barriers. The top Lack of strategic focus from top management
four collaboration challenges most often cited 12%
by corporates were legal and regulatory (14%),
low risk tolerance (13.7%), a lack of strategic Cultural differences
focus from top management (12.1%), and cultural 12%
differences (11.5%).
Misaligned business models
11%
Inability to integrate the startup solution
14%
11%
Legal and regulatory
challenges is the barrier most
Lack of structure and/or processes
often cited by corporates for collaboration with the startup
10%
Intellectual property concerns

8%
Misaligned collaboration objectives

6%
16 • 38
LEGAL AND REGULATORY CONSTRAINTS
The differing resources and needs of small

startups versus large corporates can easily
become a friction point. Compliance demands
from corporates can easily overwhelm
small startups, as can security and privacy
requirements, which may seem essential for large
corporates with, in many cases, large legal teams.
There is a lack of pragmatism and competences on the side of

big corporations to be able to adjust their expectations towards
startups on the legal axis of collaboration.
Mathieu Le Gac
CEO, Startup Palace
17 • 38
At Co-pace we partner up with startups to solve identified

needs and challenges for Continental. We have good
experience in scouting and finding the best-fitting startups.
However, the most challenging is to successfully move from
proof of concept to implementation of the solution in the
operational part of the business.
Christian Beuther
Head of Operations, Co-pace, powered by Contintental
LOW RISK TOLERANCE
Appetite for risk can be a large stumbling block

for collaborations, with startups’ and corporates’
different growth stages being a key factor in their
different approaches to risk. Corporates, with
well-established business structures or products
and often shareholders to satisfy, are routinely risk
averse. They may want to innovate but without
making dramatic changes which may threaten
their market position, not to mention the logistical
challenges of rolling out large-scale change to
a workforce that may number several thousand.
Startups, on the other hand, have everything to
prove, they are ready to take chances and pivot
dramatically as they test their businesses and
seek their place in the market. For corporates,
this agility is both alluring and unnerving and
is precisely why Open Innovation is thriving, as
it allows corporates to test out new ideas in a
controlled environment.
LACK OF STRATEGIC FOCUS FROM

TOP MANAGEMENT
Lack of strategic prioritisation can lead to failure

for multiple reasons. When startup collaboration
is seen as a side-dish activity, there can be a
lack of willingness to apply sufficient resources
and capital to the collaboration. This in itself can
result in slow progress and poor performance
for the partnership. Low strategic prioritisation
often results in poor assignment of responsibility,
which in turn slows down decision-making, and
the entire project loses a sense of urgency.
The risk can be minimised by making sure the
collaboration is strategically important, and that
there is the right level of accountability across the
organisation, particularly leadership.
18 • 38
The cycles of decision-making take up to a year within the big

corporations. When you know that a startup should gather funds
every 18 months, it becomes complex to match these two, very
different, timelines.
Dr. Zuzanna Stamirowska
CEO of Pathway
CULTURAL DIFFERENCES
Managing the often-conflicting working styles of

corporates and startups needs to be handled with What stage
a high level of awareness, planned routines for
onboarding, and cultural alignment. Transparency of collaboration is
is a number-one ingredient for risk reduction and most challenging
needs to be complemented by a constructive
approach to communication and documentation
40%
of expectations from the outset. If done well, each
side of the relationship can benefit by learning
new ways of working and valuing the other
party’s strengths.
FINDING THE RIGHT STARTUP
If we break down corporate collaboration with
44%
startups into four phases: identifying a suitable
startup, evaluating the startup’s capabilities,
experimenting with their solutions and scaling
these solutions, then corporates are divided on
which step presents the most challenges. EVALUATING STARTUP’S
CAPABILITIES AND SOLUTION
38%
EXPERIMENTING WITH
STARTUPS
17%
SCALING THE SOLUTION
19 • 38
05. The keys to success

With ever more corporates choosing Open Innovation as a way of
innovating amid this challenging economic climate, we have identified four
key factors that contribute to successful collaboration and navigating the
financial storm.
20 • 38
Corporates’ rating of STRATEGIC PRIORITISATION
strategic importance Corporates that are most successful with startup

of collaboration and collaboration have made Open Innovation and
leveraging external knowledge a central part of
success their strategic plan. This means these initiatives
are regarded as strategic priorities, rather than
Figure 9: The importance of startup collaboration together
with success rate for corporates in different countries. being innovative for the sake of novelty and
optics. Prioritisation of Open Innovation at the
top level will ensure the right level of support
UK GERMANY and accountability for the project, improving the
chances of success.
67% 52%
ACHIEVED
OBJECTIVES
ACHIEVED
OBJECTIVES
DEDICATED RESPONSIBILITY AND
LEADERSHIP INVOLVEMENT
19% 81% 31% 66% Creating a dedicated innovation collaboration

department or business unit to work with startups
SPAIN FRANCE has a powerful impact on success. These units
are often led by middle management with an
assigned C-level sponsor who has provided a
62% 67% clear mandate to launch startup partnerships. With
ACHIEVED
OBJECTIVES
ACHIEVED
OBJECTIVES a clear line of internal accountability, those in the
dedicated unit serve as internal ambassadors,
preserving the link between core business needs
21% 79% 47% 53% and innovation outcomes.
ITALY BENELUX
71% 59%
ACHIEVED ACHIEVED
OBJECTIVES OBJECTIVES
15% 85% 41% 59%
NORWAY SWEDEN
44% 45%
ACHIEVED ACHIEVED
OBJECTIVES OBJECTIVES
34% 62% 50% 48%
Important and/or Mission Critical

Slightly Important or Unimportant
21 • 38
BUILDING OPEN INNOVATION Corporates planning to

CAPABILITIES work with startups in the
A total of 69% of corporates want to collaborate next 18 months
with startups within the next 18 months. However,
Figure 11: Corporates in different industries who want to
many corporates lack experience in setting up collaborate with startups in the next 18 months
collaboration models. 40% of those surveyed felt
that lack of internal capabilities for collaboration
management was a reason for either poor
Legal Services
support or failure of the initiative. Build out your
91%
Open Innovation resources to create an ever- 4%
growing database of best practices, processes
Media & Entertainment
and learnings so your collaboration systems are 91%
always improving. 4%
Telecommunication
90%
8%
Defence & Homeland Security

88%
Corporates with 6%
a dedicated Energy and Utilities

83%
collaboration team 12%
Aerospace
Figure 10: Corporates who have a dedicated department or
business unit that works with startups. 82%
12%
Health
1% 78%
7%
30% Financial Services

77%
69% 16%
Transport
76%
13%
Retail Industry
75%
10%
Yes No I don’t know
Insurance
68%
27%
Public Sector and Government

61%
22%
Yes
No
22 • 38
Corporates employing
third-party intermediaries,
by industry
Figure 12: Corporates in different industries who have
experience from engaging a third-party intermediary.
Media & Entertainment ENGAGE A THIRD-PARTY EXPERT TO

15%
82%
SUPPORT STARTUP COLLABORATION
Telecommunication
80%
Do not expect to be an expert the first time
17%
you try. Startup collaboration offers considerable
Legal Services benefits but not without challenges. Do not be
75% afraid to seek support from an experienced
25%
Third-Party Intermediary (TPI) to help turn your
Aerospace collaboration ambitions into a reality and manage
71%
24% the relationship.
Transport
69%
Of the corporates surveyed, an average of
29%
55% had engaged a TPI such as accelerators,
Energy and Utilities incubators or consultants acting as ecosystem
30%
65% orchestrators.
Health The impact of employing third-party intermediaries

64%
29% on the success of collaboration projects is
profound. According to our data, more than
Insurance
62% two-thirds of corporates who hired a third party
33%
achieved their objectives all or most of the time
Retail Industry (67%), compared with 51% of corporates who did
41%
54% not use such external support.
Financial Services External experts, such as Sopra Steria, are used

54%
43% for a range of services including pre-vetting of
startups, match-making, expectation alignment,
Public Sector and Government
48% and contract negotiation. They are also used
43%
for supporting cultural alignment, establishing
Defence & Homeland Security processes, collaboration structure, reporting and
36%
45% evaluation. For many collaborations, they become
a broker of trust.
Yes
No
23 • 38
06. Open Innovation:

today and tomorrow
Open Innovation is emerging as one of the
most dynamic trends currently shaping business.
Combining the agility and creativity of startup
culture with the finance and scale of corporate
Future startup
business is a recipe for success. collaboration plans
Figure 13: Corporates expectations for collaboration
Set against the backdrop of the current economic with startups in the future.
downturn, corporate-startup collaboration
represents a way for multinationals to achieve
their innovation objectives, surpassing rivals and 7%
enhancing revenue generation. 44%
22%
Collaboration can be a key to success when time-
to-market is critical to protecting and expanding
market share. It provides an opportunity to
leverage value creation, by accelerating and
scaling concepts developed by startups, with
limited financial exposure. This collaboration model 26%
does have challenges, but they can be minimised
by lessons learned through experience or by
engaging external experts.
Increased focus on collaboration with startups
Decreased focus on collaboration with startups
No change
Don’t know
24 • 38
We have a business development team that is responsible for

our more disruptive product and business model innovation.
This team is building an external network with universities,
suppliers, startup companies, making sure we have a solid
working process and that we involve our core organisation
through the innovation stages.
Johan Hallin
Director of Strategy & Business Development, Lindex
FUTURE STARTUP
COLLABORATION PLANS
Top three future A total of 44% of corporates quizzed reported

planning to increase their focus on startup
collaboration topics collaboration.
Our planet is facing an urgent climate crisis.
36%
Sustainability is one sector where Open Innovation
can provide much-needed dynamism to help
corporates meet the challenge.
SUSTAINABILITY There is a rapidly expanding green tech sector

offering a variety of much-needed solutions
to these environmental challenges, and by
30%
collaborating with ambitious sustainability-minded
corporates, some of these revolutionary ideas
can scale and make a truly positive impact, while
helping organisations comply with a host of new
CYBERSECURITY EU sustainability regulations.
Open Innovation is no longer simply a marketing
28%
exercise, it has become mainstream, already
reshaping the products, services and business
practices of some of the world’s largest
conglomerates.
ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE
Corporates which fail to recognise and take
advantage of the Open Innovation phenomenon
risk finding their most promising startup partner
already working for their fiercest rival.
25 • 38
07. About our survey

We conducted surveys among 1,648 startups
and corporates from 10 European countries.
The countries involved were UK, France, Spain,
Italy, Germany, Sweden, Norway, Belgium, The
Size of the corporates:
Netherlands, and Luxembourg (the latter three ► 1–49 employees: 3%
grouped together as Benelux). The organisations ► 50–99 employees: 15%
completed the survey from the country where ► 100–249 employees: 14%
they are based, meaning respondents answered ► 250–499 employees: 15%
questions from their country’s perspective, not ► 500–999 employees: 12%
necessarily from the perspective of the country ► 1000–5000 employees: 21%
where their headquarters are based. ► More than 5000 employees: 17%
On average, there were 54 corporates and

96 startups participating in each country.
Corporates were asked to respond to one survey
and startups to another. The two surveys were
conducted in September 2022, with support
from Ipsos. Surveys were sent to corporates
and startups through accelerators, networks in
Size of the startups:
the ecosystem, European database client lists of ► 1–3 employees: 20%
Sopra Steria and lists from Ipsos. ► 4–9 employees: 28%
► 10–19 employees: 30%
We selected startups established after 2017. ► More than 20 employees: 22%
As a qualifying criterion, startups had to identify
with this statement: “A young independent
company founded by one or more entrepreneurs
to develop a unique product or service and
bring it to market. In doing so the entrepreneur(s)
behind the startup seek, effectively develop, and
validate a scalable business model. A startup is
established with the intention of growing beyond
the entrepreneur and entrepreneurial team.”
The startups vary in maturity, with some being

seed stage with no or few paying customers (19%)
and most being early stage with good customer
traction (38%), or in the growth stage with
international scaling (30%). A few startups are also
later stage and have a large customer base (9%).
26 • 38
Acknowledgement
of contributors
The authors want to take a moment to thank Dr Zuzanna Stamirowska, CEO of Pathway; Maria
Archontoulis, Lead Startup Partnerships and Accelerator, Partnerships & Innovation, DNB; Johan Hallin,
Director of Strategy & Business Development, Lindex; Christian Beuther, Head of Operations, Co-pace,
powered by Contintental; Mathieu Le Gac, CEO, Startup Palace; and Mohammed Hannan, Head
of Digital Innovation, Johnson & Johnson, for sharing valuable insights and experiences from Open
Innovation activities in their organisations.
Furthermore, the authors would like to express their gratitude to Bram Timmermans, professor at the
Department of Strategy and Management at NHH Norwegian School of Economics, and Dennis Gan,
PhD and Program Manager at SPARK, who took part in designing the survey questions for the first
Open Innovation report in Norway in 2021 – Mind the Gap. The original questions were adjusted and
adapted to the survey used in the Open Innovation Report 2023 – Surviving the Storm.
Ipsos structured the questions into the survey and sent it out to all participants. We would also like to
thank the following ecosystem friends for helping us engage the European innovation ecosystem:
► ACE Capital Partners

► DigitalNorway
► E14 Invest
► Epicenter Norway
► Epicenter Sweden
► European Innovation Council
► NCE Finance Innovation
► INSEAD
► Invest in Toulouse
► Klein Blue
► KUPA
► Microsoft4Startups
► Open Innovation Lab
► Oslo Business Region
► PEAK Innovation
► SISP-Swedish Incubators & Science Parks
► SIVA
► Spring Invest
► StartOff
► Startup Norway
► StartupLab
27 • 38
Contributors
Nathan Furr Tobias Studer Andersson
Professor of Strategy Innovation Director & Head of
INSEAD Sopra Steria Scale up Scandinavia
[email protected] [email protected]
+33 1 60 72 48 35 +47 413 73 214
Mohammed Sijelmassi Gordon Ryan

Chief Technology Officer Senior Innovation Consultant
Sopra Steria Sopra Steria
+33 1 40 67 29 29 +47 483 48 864
Andrew Shipilov Charlie Hamilton

Professor of Strategy Editorial Content Manager
INSEAD Sopra Steria
+33 1 6072 4853 +33 1 40 67 29 29
Sara Hoff Bjørkli

Senior Consultant
Sopra Steria Scale up Scandinavia
[email protected]
+47 472 50 746
Sopra Steria Scale up is Sopra Steria Group’s global

innovation initiative focusing on Open Innovation
and ecosystem collaboration. Sopra Steria Scale
up is the ecosystem orchestrator helping incumbent
organizations and startups collaborate and safely
explore, experiment and scale new solutions together
under clear governance. The objective is to help the
incumbents to drive radical innovation and build the
right mindset and internal capabilities in order to
harvest business value from Open Innovation and
startup collaboration.
28 • 38
Appendix
29 • 38
BENELUX
Benelux corporates’ appetites for Open
80%
of Benelux corporates want
to work with startups in the
Innovation surges post Covid-19 next 18 months – second-
highest in Europe
75%
Open Innovation projects in Benelux countries has surged in the
post-Covid-19 era, according to the results of the Sopra Steria Open
Innovation Report 2023, with the region recording the second largest
number of collaborations in Europe in the last two years. of Benelux corporates
A total of 80% of Benelux corporates reported having launched
launched collaborations
collaboration projects – second only to Italy, with 80.4%. during or since the
Covid-19 pandemic
The popularity of Open Innovation has grown rapidly with 75%
of corporates having launched startup collaborations during or
since the Covid-19 pandemic, which likely explains why Benelux
corporates have so few dedicated business units to manage
such partnerships – 34% of companies did not have such a team,
80%
Corporates in Benelux
second only to Germany which had the fewest.
who have collaborated
This trend looks set to grow, with 80% of corporates interested in with startups – second-
launching collaborations with startups in the next 18 months, with highest in Europe
blockchain technology identified as the area of most interest.
01 Second highest number of corporates

that have collaborated with startups
02 Highest level of corporates
who have started to collaborate with startups during or after the pandemic
UK GERMANY SPAIN FRANCE UK GERMANY SPAIN FRANCE
61% 57% 70% 75% 64% 59% 43% 42%
ITALY BENELUX NORWAY SWEDEN ITALY BENELUX NORWAY SWEDEN
80,4% 80% 77% 77% 41% 75% 38% 55%
Q: Has your organisation ever collaborated with a startup? Q :How many years has your organisation collaborated with startups?
03 Second highest level of countries,

together with Germany, without a dedicated department or
04 Second highest level of corporates
who are interested in collaborating with startups
business unit to manage startup collaboration again within the next 18 months
UK 31% Italy 22% UK 58% Italy 92%

34% Benelux 34%
34% Germany 59% Benelux 80%
80%
Germany
Spain 21% Norway 32% Spain 68% Norway 74%
France 40% Sweden 28% France 68% Sweden 56%
Q: Does your organisation have a dedicated department or business unit that works with startups? Companies answering “No” Q: Are you interested in (or will again) collaborate with startups within the next 18 months?
05 Highest level of corporates who

want to collaborate with startups in the area of blockchain in the future
UK
GERMANY
SPAIN
47%
FRANCE
ITALY
BENELUX
NORWAY
SWEDEN
0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50%
Q: Which area(s) would you be most interested to collaborate with a startup in the future?
This survey was conducted among 1,648 public and private sector corporates and startups in 10 European countries: United Kingdom, France, Italy,
Spain, Germany, Sweden, Norway, Belgium, the Netherlands and Luxembourg, the latter three countries being grouped under the name Benelux. 30 • 38
FRANCE
French corporates rate Open Innovation
14%
View corporate-startup
collaboration as unimportant
least important in Europe – highest in Europe
French corporates are furthest behind the curve in embracing the

corporate-startup collaboration trend, according to the results of
67%
Satisfaction with
the Sopra Steria Open Innovation Report 2023.
collaboration project – joint
Despite the open innovation surge, French corporates are least
enthusiastic of all the countries surveyed about the possibilities
second highest in Europe
of collaboration with startups, having the largest proportion of
respondents judging corporate-startup collaboration unimportant
(14%) or only slightly important (33%) for their companies’ strategy. 40%
Proportion of corporates
France also has the highest level of corporates that do not have a
dedicated department to work with startup collaborations (40%) and without a dedicated startup
the lowest level of corporates who are interested in collaborating collaboration department
with startups in the area of sustainability in the future (33%).
– highest in Europe
However, regardless of these numbers, France is joint second highest
among the European companies polled in terms of satisfaction with
collaboration outcomes (67%), and also second highest in involving top
management in collaboration projects (40%), a key factor of success.

that either find startup collaboration unimportant (14%) or
that do not have a dedicated department to work
slightly important (33%) for their organisation’s strategy with startup collaborations
Unimportant Slightly important
50%
40%
31% 34% 21% 40%
30%
20% ITALY BENELUX NORWAY SWEDEN
10%
22% 34% 32% 28%
0% UK GERMANY SPAIN FRANCE ITALY BENELUX NORWAY SWEDEN
Q: How many years has your organisation collaborated with startups? Q: Does your organisation have a dedicated department or business unit that works with startups? Companies answering “No”
03 Second highest level of successful collaborations

(together with UK) Always or Most of the time
with startup collaboration as a responsibility at top
management level

Germany
Spain
52%
62%
Benelux
Norway
59%
44% 67% Germany
Spain
24%
21%
Benelux
Norway
25%
22% 40%
Q: Overall, how often in your collaborations with startups did you achieve your objectives? Q: Overall, how often in your collaborations with startups did you achieve your objectives?
05 Lowest level of corporates

who are interested in collaborating with startups in the area of sustainability in the future
UK
GERMANY
SPAIN
33%
FRANCE
ITALY
BENELUX
NORWAY
SWEDEN
0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80%

Q: Which area(s) would you be most interested to collaborate with a startup in the future?
GERMANY
German corporates lowest level of startup
57%
of German corporates have
collaborated with startups –
collaboration in Europe lowest in Europe
Germany has the lowest level of corporate-startup collaboration

compared to European rivals, according to the results of the
13.8%
of German corporates
Sopra Steria Open Innovation Report 2023, surprising due to
Berlin’s position as a leading European startup capital. rated collaboration
German corporates showed themselves to be unexpectedly cool
unimportant – second
on Open Innovation, recording the lowest level of collaboration in highest in Europe
Europe (57%) and also the second highest number of companies
27%
which rated collaboration as unimportant (13.8%).
They also had the third-lowest level of success in Open Innovation

projects, with 48% only achieving their goals half the time, or sometimes. of corporates in Germany
are not interested in
German corporates also showed little enthusiasm for future
collaborations, recording the second highest level of respondents not launching collaborations
interested in collaborating with startups in the coming 18 months (27%). in the next 18 months –
second-highest in Europe

that have experience from collaboration with startups before
that find startup collaboration unimportant
61% 57% 70% 75% 3% 13.8% 0% 14%
80% 80% 77% 77% 2% 9% 4% 5%
Q: Has your organisation ever collaborated with a startup? Q: How many years has your organisation collaborated with startups? Companies answering “No”.

that have placed responsibility for startup collaboration
04 Second highest number of corporates
not interested in collaborating with startups within the
at middle management next 18 months

Germany
Spain
66%
60%
Benelux
Norway
59%
52% 66% Germany
Spain
27%
12%
Benelux
Norway
10%
12% 27%
Q: Where in your organisation is the responsibility for the startup collaboration placed? Q: Are you interested in (or will again) collaborate with startups within the next 18 months?

that find misaligned collaboration objectives to be the biggest barrier of startup collaboration
UK
GERMANY
SPAIN
FRANCE
38%
ITALY
BENELUX
NORWAY
SWEDEN
0% 5% 10% 15% 20% 25% 30% 35% 40%
Q: Which are the top 3 biggest barriers (obstacles) for your organization when collaborating with startups?
ITALY
Italian corporates lead the charge in Europe
92%
of Italian corporates
planned collaborations
in embracing Open Innovation in the next 18 months
– highest in Europe
80.4%
Italian corporates powerfully lead the charge amongst their
European rivals in embracing startup collaboration, according
to the results of the Sopra Steria Open Innovation Report 2023.
of Italian corporates have
Corporates in Italy reported the highest level of startup collaboration
projects across Europe (80.4%), and also the highest number judging
collaborated with startups
it Mission Critical to their organisation’s strategy (56.1%). – highest in Europe
56.1%
Italy was also the country with the highest level of successful
collaborations (71%), the highest level of corporates who want to
collaborate in sustainability (72%), and also the largest level of
satisfaction with such projects (38%). Corporates judging Open
Innovation as Mission
Almost all of the corporates quizzed reported that they planned
to collaborate in the next 18 months (92%) – again the highest Critical – highest in Europe
level in Europe.
01 Highest number of corporates

that have collaborated with startups
02 Highest number of corporates
that find startup collaboration mission critical for their
organisation’s strategy
61% 57% 70% 75% 55.6% 17% 40% 21%
80.4% 80% 77% 77% 56.1% 25% 16% 13%
Q: Has your organisation ever collaborated with a startup? Q: How many years has your organisation collaborated with startups?
03 Highest level of
successful collaborations
who are very satisfied with their experience of collaborating
with startups through collaboration projects

Germany
Spain
52%
62%
Benelux
Norway
59%
44% 71% Germany
Spain
7%
30%
Benelux
Norway
13%
16% 38%
Q: Overall, how often in your collaborations with startups did you achieve your objectives? Q: How would you rate the experience of collaborating with startups though collaboration projects?

who want to collaborate with startups again
who want to collaborate with startups in
within the next 18 months the area of sustainability
UK UK
GERMANY GERMANY
SPAIN SPAIN
FRANCE FRANCE
ITALY ITALY
BENELUX BENELUX
NORWAY NORWAY
SWEDEN SWEDEN
0% 20% 40% 60% 80% 100% 0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80%
Q: Are you interested in (or will again) collaborate with startups within the next 18 months? Q: Which area(s) would you be most interested to collaborate with a startup in the future?
NORWAY
Norwegian corporates have the lowest level of
62%
Norwegian corporates
who collaborate with
successful Open Innovation projects in Europe startups to create new
products – highest in Europe
16%
Only 44% of Norwegian corporates judged their Open Innovation
projects to have achieved their objectives all or most of the time,
according to the results of the Sopra Steria Open Innovation Report
2023. of Norwegian corporates
Despite Norway having the largest number of corporates who have
judge Open Innovation as
run Open Innovation projects for five years or more (36%), it also Mission Critical – second-
has the second-lowest number of companies who find collaboration lowest in Europe
a Mission Critical strategic priority (16%).
Norwegian corporates also struggle most among their European

rivals in scaling solutions discovered during Open Innovation projects
(28%), and also have the highest number of corporates who launch
36%
of Norwegian corporates
collaborations to create and experiment with new products and
services (62%). have run Open Innovation
projects for 5 years or
more – highest in Europe

with more than 5 years of experience with startup collaboration
02 Second lowest level of corporates
who find startup collaboration strategically important – only 16%
finds it mission critical for their organization’s strategy
6% 7% 24% 28% 55.6% 17% 40% 21%
22% 6% 36% 20% 55.1% 25% 16% 13%
Q: How many years has your organisation collaborated with startups? Q: How many years has your organisation collaborated with startups?

who collaborate to create and experiment with
04 Lowest level of successful startup collaborations
with only 44% of the corporates achieving their objectives
new products and/or services always or most of the time

Germany
Spain
41%
52%
Benelux
Norway
34%
62% 62% Germany
Spain
52%
62%
Benelux
Norway
59%
44% 44%
Q: What are your organisation’s objectives for collaborating with startups? Q: Overall, how often in your collaborations with startups did you achieve your objectives?

who find the phase of scaling the solution as most challenging
UK
GERMANY
SPAIN
28%
FRANCE
ITALY
BENELUX
NORWAY
SWEDEN
0% 5% 10% 15% 20% 25% 30%

Q: Which phase(s) of startup collaboration do you find the most challenging?
SPAIN
Spanish corporates most keen in Europe
50%
of Spanish corporates reported low
for help combatting cybersecurity threats risk tolerance as the biggest blocker
to collaboration – highest in Europe
79%
Spanish corporates emerge as most enthusiastic in Europe in
collaborating with startups in the field of cybersecurity, according
to the results of the Sopra Steria Open Innovation Report 2023.
of Spanish corporates have a
A total of 51% of Spanish corporates identified cybersecurity as the
area of most interest in collaboration with startups, the highest level in
dedicated collaboration business
Europe, with support leveraging the metaverse a close second at 49%. unit – highest in Europe
51%
Reducing the time to market was the most-commonly cited objective
for Spanish corporates (40%) and the region also emerged as the
one best organised to manage collaborations, with the highest
number of respondents having a dedicated internal business unit to Corporates in Spain interested in
manage Open Innovation projects (79%). collaborating with startups in the
However, despite the successes, challenges remain. Spanish corporates future on cybersecurity - highest in
reported the second-highest level of extreme disappointment with Europe
collaborations in Europe, with 5% judging themselves to be Very
Dissatisfied with collaborations.

who collaborate to shorten time to market and to access
who have a dedicated department or business unit
entrepreneurial talent that works with startup collaboration

Shorter time to market to launch new products and/or solutions
Access to entrepreneurial talent
40%
64% 66% 79% 58%
35%

30%
76% 66% 68% 73%

25%
20% Q: Does your organisation have a dedicated department or business unit that works with startups?
15% 03 Highest level of corporates

who find the third phase of startup collaboration,
experimenting with startups, most challenging
10%
UK 28% Italy 46%
50%
5%
Germany 38% Benelux 41%
Spain 50% Norway 28%
0%
France 40% Sweden 40%
UK GERMANY SPAIN FRANCE ITALY BENELUX NORWAY SWEDEN
Q: What are your organisation’s objectives for collaborating with startups? Q: Which phase(s) of startup collaboration do you find the most challenging?
04 The highest level of corporates

who find low risk tolerance to be the biggest barrier for
who want to collaborate with startups in the area of
startup collaboration cybersecurity in the future
UK UK
GERMANY GERMANY
SPAIN SPAIN
FRANCE FRANCE
ITALY ITALY
BENELUX BENELUX
NORWAY NORWAY
SWEDEN SWEDEN
0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60%
Q: Which are the top 3 biggest barriers (obstacles) for your organization when collaborating with startups? Q: Which area(s) would you be most interested to collaborate with a startup in the future?
SWEDEN
Sweden has lowest level of corporates rating
56%
Swedish corporates wanting
to work with startups in the
Open Innovation as Mission Critical next 18 months – lowest in
Europe
13%
Swedish corporates rate collaboration with startups as least Mission
Critical in Europe, according to the results of the Sopra Steria Open
Innovation Report 2023.
of Swedish corporates judge
In contrast to Open Innovation’s growing popularity across Europe,
only 12.5% of corporates in Sweden judged such projects as Mission
Open Innovation as Mission
Critical, while success rates for collaborations also remained low, Critical – lowest in Europe
with only 45% of projects achieving their objectives all or most of
the time.
Swedish corporates also had the lowest level of respondents

who classified themselves as satisfied with collaboration projects
(46%) and also had the lowest number of companies interested in
46%
of Swedish corporates
launching Open Innovation projects in the next 18 months (56%).
report being satisfied with
collaborations – lowest in
Europe

who find startup collaboration strategically important – only
02 Second lowest level of successful startup
collaborations, after Norway, with only 45% of the corporates
13% finds it mission critical for their organization’s strategy achieving their objectives always or most of the time.
55.6% 17% 40% 21% 67% 52% 63% 67%

56.1% 25% 16% 13%

71% 59% 44% 45%
Q: How many years has your organisation collaborated with startups? Q: Overall, how often in your collaborations with startups did you achieve your objectives?

who have placed responsibility for startup collaboration at
who are satisfied with their experience of collaborating with
middle-management level (88%) startups through collaboration projects (46%)

Germany
Spain
66%
60%
Benelux
Norway
59%
52% 88% Germany
Spain
64%
55%
Benelux
Norway
69%
59% 46%
Q: Where in your organisation is the responsibility for the startup collaboration placed? Q: How would you rate the experience of collaborating with startups though collaboration projects?
05 Lowest level of startups

who are interested in collaborating with startups within the next 18 months
UK
GERMANY
SPAIN
56%
FRANCE
ITALY
BENELUX
NORWAY
SWEDEN
0% 20% 40% 60% 80% 100%
Q: Are you interested in (or will again) collaborate with startups within the next 18 months?
UK
UK corporates least interested in Europe in
31%
of UK corporates not
interested in collaborations
future Open Innovation collaborations in the next 18 months –
highest in Europe
28%
UK corporates are the least enthusiastic in Europe on future startup
collaborations, according to the results of the Sopra Steria Open
Innovation Report 2023.
Proportion of UK coprorates
Despite this the popularity of Open Innovation across Europe, the
trend, UK reported the highest proportion of corporates that did not
finding responsibility for
plan to collaborate with startups in the coming 18 months (31%), and collaborations ill-defined in
also had the largest number of corporates that felt that responsibility their organisations
for collaboration projects was ill-defined within their organisation (28%).
However, paradoxically, 55.6% of UK corporates judged that

collaboration should be a strategic priority, the second highest number
in Europe.
55.6%
Corporates judging Open
The UK also has the second lowest level of Open Innovation projects Innovation as strategically
in Europe (61%), according to our findings, and the least well- important – second-highest
established tradition of corporate-startup collaboration, with only 6% in Europe
of corporate organisations having collaborations dating back five
years or more.
01 Second lowest number of corporates

who have engaged with startups
who find startup collaboration strategically important for their
organisations strategy
61% 57% 70% 75% 55.6% 17% 40% 21%
80% 80% 77% 77% 56.1% 25% 16% 13%
Q: Has your organisation ever collaborated with a startup(s)? Q: How many years has your organisation collaborated with startups?
03 Second highest level of successful collaborations

(together with France)
04 Highest level of corporates with startup collaboration
to not be a well-defined area of responsibility in the organisation

Germany
Spain
52%
62%
Benelux
Norway
59%
44% 67% Germany
Spain
10%
19%
Benelux
Norway
16%
26% 28%
Q: Overall, how often in your collaborations with startups did you achieve your objectives? Q: Where in your organisation is the responsibility for the startup collaboration placed?

who do not want to collaborate with startups in the next 18 months
UK
GERMANY
SPAIN
FRANCE
ITALY
BENELUX
30.5%
NORWAY
SWEDEN
0% 5% 10% 15% 20% 25% 30% 35%
Q: Are you interested in (or will you again) collaborate with startups within the next 18 months? Companies answering “No”

Sopra Steria Open Innovation Report 2023

Uploaded by

Copyright:

Available Formats

Sopra Steria Open Innovation Report 2023

Uploaded by

Document Information

Original Description:

Copyright

Available Formats

Share this document

Share or Embed Document

Sharing Options

Did you find this document useful?

Is this content inappropriate?

Copyright:

Available Formats

Sopra Steria Open Innovation Report 2023

Uploaded by

Copyright:

Available Formats

Surviving the Storm: how corporate-startup

collaboration is the key to thriving amid

03. What is driving

04. Mind the

05. The keys

06. Open Innovation:

07. About our

Working with Ipsos and INSEAD professors, we

► Italy and Benelux show most enthusiasm for

► 89% of corporates who managed collaborations

► Collaboration is most popular in the aerospace

► The desire to discover unknown business

► The biggest blockers to collaboration were

► 55% of corporates used third-party intermediaries

► Sustainability, Artificial Intelligence and

For corporates, Open Innovation is a way to

Open Innovation within this report will thus

More recently, as a succession of gloomy

Almost three-quarters (72%) of the 443 corporates SPAIN FRANCE

15% 85% 41% 59%

4% 34% 62% 3% 50% 48%

How popular is Open

UK 61% BENELUX 80%

The rapidly growing interest in Open Innovation

Objectives achieved by region

UK GERMANY SPAIN FRANCE

33% 67% 48% 52% 2% 36% 62% 33% 67%

ITALY BENELUX NORWAY SWEDEN

29% 71% 41% 59% 2% 54% 44% 3% 53% 45%

APPETITE FOR OPEN INNOVATION VARIES

The popularity and success of corporate-startup

Public sector organisations reported the least

Media & Entertainment

Energy and Utilities

Defence & Homeland Security

Important and/or mission critical

The corporate view:

DNB has systemised its corporate-startup

The startup view:

The two key challenges in corporate-startup

The first challenge is in finding the right person

Second, making sure that this person has a

“The cycles of decision-making take up to a year

The biggest pain point in startup-corporate

“The key to successful collaborations lies in

03. What is driving

According to our report findings, the lure of

EXPLORE UNEXPECTED OPPORTUNITIES

Through collaborating with startups, corporates can

Johnson & Johnson’s mission is to unlock the potential of life sciences

CREATE AND EXPERIMENT WITH

With an Open Innovation approach, corporates

OPTIMISE INTERNAL PROCESSES

Startups often expose corporates to new ways

Figure 6: Access to financial capital

ACCESS TO HUMAN CAPITAL

Figure 7: Access to human capital

04. Mind the

When a large hierarchical organisation where