Match-Maker Ventures and Arthur D. Little’s longstanding joint inquiry into Corp-Up collaborations (collaborations between startups and corporates on business terms) is continuing with our ongoing 2022 Age of Collaboration III study.
A first analysis of the data for this third edition of the world’s largest study of startup-corporate collaborations is already revealing a complex collaboration landscape – one that is both incredibly impactful for those who take part, and continually beset with stubborn challenges.
Preliminary results: startup insights
While we prepare our full Age of Collaboration III report for publication in Autumn of 2022, we are sharing insights from the 450+ startups from 70+ countries who have taken part in our study so far. This analysis, though preliminary, points to some valuable insights:
I. Corp-Up continues to reign with visible improvements since 2019
II. Strong regional differences, with LATAM & Middle East leading & Europe lagging behind
III. Pressing challenges remain – but there are clear solutions
I. Corp-Up remains hot for startups
Corp-Up continues to reign
Corp-Up is the preferred collaboration vehicle for startups by an overwhelming margin, engaged in by more than twice as many startups as the next most common collaboration vehicle (direct investment). The fact that this type of startup-corporate collaboration (which was also the most common vehicle in our 2016 and 2019 Age of Collaboration studies) has endured as the hottest for so long is no coincidence: there is significant tangible impact to be gained by startups from leveraging the assets of a large corporate partner.
Corporates can be the ideal springboard for rapid market share gain for a growing startup, often having a large existing customer base to penetrate. As long as the corporate is ready and able to ingest the kind of innovation that startups bring, the partner relationship between the corporate and startup as buyer and supplier has undeniable mutual benefits.
