Fireside Chat: Corporate and Startup Co-Creation Implemented

On July 12, Hub71 attended a virtual panel titled Corporate and Startup Co-Creation Implemented, hosted by Microsoft in partnership with INSEAD, to discuss why and how corporates and startups collaborate together, shedding light on the innovation ecosystem builder within the MENA region.

Nader Museitif, Head of Business Development and Partnerships at Hub71, was joined by Roberto Croci, Managing Director of Microsoft for Startups Middle East, Babak Ahmadzadeh, Co-Founder & Director of Plug and Play ADGM, Katia Kachan, General Manager Brandquad MENA and Director of INSEAD Retail and Jose L Lopez Villen, Director, Open Innovation & Partnership Ecosystem at Etisalat.

Watch the full webinar, below:

Or, if you’re short on time, read on for the top 5 key tips that help streamline how corporates and startups join forces.

• Startups must identify their client’s needs and demonstrate how they could help filling a gap to help corporates go through digital transformation and process optimization, in turn becoming more customer-oriented
• Corporates need to streamline legal , procurement and contractual processes as they work with startups
• Startups need to be prepared. They need to research the corporate’s mandate, understand their challenges and what their innovation activities and initiatives are, for them to be able to demonstrate how the tech product or service will disrupt their industries and reinvent their activities
• Working with startups can contribute to an increased appetite for innovation and intrapreneurship. In a fast-changing business environment, it is important to actively foster a culture of openness that allows for innovation as much as for failures on the way to new solution
• Keep your eye on the end goal – engaging with startups for corporate innovation is a mutually beneficial exercise that creates economic churn and is key to building a sustainable knowledge-based economy