A Note on Corporate Open Innovation: Engagement with Startups

Abstract

This Note summarizes our findings based on an exploratory and initial global research study of best practices for organizations employing open innovation business model strategies. We utilized an expert interview approach to develop a survey that was taken during the Covid-19 pandemic. It was meant to assess open innovation strategies and tactics, particularly focused on partnering with startups and emerging companies. We worked with a cohort of Corporate Accelerator Forum (CAF) members (as experts), prior to a more extensive survey of corporations concerning their engagement with startups. Our experts included key leadership from Techstars, Bayer CoLaborator, and Illumina Accelerator. We plan a broader, more extensive survey of national and international companies as a follow up.  Our results highlight and provide commentary on current industry practices and trends during the Covid-19 pandemic, and have applicability to the biopharma, MedTech, and digital medicine/health markets.