IESE Research Unveils Power of Corporate Venturing Squads in Driving Innovation

MADRID, June 13, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- IESE Business School, in collaboration with Kapita, has released a report on the innovation benefits of corporate venturing squads – the practice of a group of corporations joining forces to innovate with one or more startups.  The report finds these strategic alliances are a potential route to providing better access to start-up deal flow, innovation networks, and reduced costs and risks compared to when companies work alone.

The report, titled "Open Innovation: Corporate Venturing Squads," co-authored by IESE Business School professor Mª Julia Prats as well as Josemaria Siota, Carla Bustamante, and Beatriz Camacho from IESE's Open Innovation and Corporate Venturing Institute, explores the benefits and strategies employed by these squads to enhance innovation.  As such, the report is a useful guide for how chief innovation officers and industry leaders can leverage these strategic alliances for best effect.

The report highlights the advantages of pursuing innovation as a team effort, including better access to start-up deal flow in terms of quantity and quality, thanks to providing a more attractive corporate value proposition to start-ups. Teaming up with other corporations also enhances access to innovation networks, facilitates the sharing of knowledge and best practices, increases credibility and visibility, and reduces costs and risks.

Real-world successful examples of corporate venturing squads are analyzed, such as the collaboration between InBev, Coca-Cola, Colgate-Palmolive, and Unilever, which resulted in 70 pilot projects addressing sustainability challenges in multiple countries. In the mobility sector, MobilityXlab in Sweden accelerates start-ups through partnerships with automotive and ICT companies like Volvo, CEVT, Polestar, Ericsson, and more. Another case is the Construction Start-up Competition launched by CEMEX Ventures, streamlining the construction start-up market through collaboration with ten corporates.

The research analyzed 50 corporate venturing squads, involving 340 squad members and 262 corporations, and conducted interviews with 50 chief innovation officers across Europe, Asia, and America.

To learn more about the power of corporate venturing squads in driving innovation, access the full report.

The study was released at IESE's 10^th Open Innovation Conference with C-level speakers from TDK Ventures, IKEA, Acciona, Johnson Controls, Mondragon, Mapfre, Coca-Cola, Decathlon, etc. The initiative counted on the support of the EU-LAC Digital Accelerator as well as 19 dissemination partners such as the European Institute of Innovation and Technology, the University of Navarra, Tecnalia Ventures, Global Corporate Venturing, Endeavor, SpainCap, and more.