Exploring the Diversity of Corporate Engagement with Startups

Lionel Delatte, Louvain Research Institute in Management and Organizations 
Benoît Gailly, Louvain Research Institute in Management and Organizations 
Paavo Ritala, Business School, LUT University 

Summary

Scholars have long identified interorganizational relationships as a prominent tool, firms may use to foster internal innovation and to help them navigating through the increasingly complex and volatile environments in which they operate. In particular, corporate engagement with startups, which has become a topic of increasing interest among researchers of several fields. This popularity can probably be explained by the various strategic benefits, firms may draw from this form of collaborations but also due the contribution, it might have in tackling complex global challenges. However, effectively engaging with startups requires firms to overcome a fair number of difficulties and challenges. Therefore, determining ‘how to engage with startups’ is a central but complex question, which scholars have attempted to address through different dimensions. In this context, our exploratory study contributes to existing research in strategic management through two major ways. Firstly, it complements their study of collaboration modes with a better understanding of the specific processes and organizational designs implemented by incumbents in this context. Thereby, exploring emerging ‘lightweight’ collaboration modes and comparing them with traditional corporate venturing (‘CV’) modes based on a series of distinctive dimensions. Secondly, this paper leverages data collected through a Belgian Corporate R&D network to inductively provide some evidence on the emergence of a novel approach which we refer to as ‘corporate entrepreneurial ecosystem’. It thus confirms the diversity of engagement modes with startups beyond traditional equity participations. Furthermore, it emphasizes the emergence of engagements characterized by a multiplicity of actors and multilateralism. Our paper provides both scholars and practitioners with further clarity on corporate engagement with startups, offering promising avenues for future research. 

Keywords: corporate-startup engagement, corporate venturing, entrepreneurial ecosystem, open innovation. H de la Fondation Louvain