The air crackled with energy on April 8th in a stunning Hôtel de Wignacourt in Paris. It wasn’t just another corporate event, it was a “moment out of time,” as one attendee described it, dedicated to a critical question facing businesses today. How do leading corporations truly succeed in collaborating with startups? Hosted by Novable and our new strategic partner, Yumana, the evening brought together decision-makers eager to move beyond the hype and into high-impact open innovation.
The sheer caliber of attendees representing giants like Ingenico, France Travail, BNP Paribas, Decathlon, Enedis, Orange, Orano, SNCF, and more underscored a fundamental shift. Corporate innovation driven by external partnerships is no longer a niche experiment. It’s a core driver of transformation. Today, effective startup and collaboration are paramount for accessing cutting-edge solutions, accelerating R&D, and maintaining a competitive edge. This requires more than just casual interest, it demands structured approaches, including robust technology monitoring and continuous competitive watch. The appetite for understanding how to do this effectively has never been greater.
We were privileged to hear directly from Johanna Molina, Innovation Manager at Vivalto Santé, and Amine, an Open Innovation Manager at L’Oréal. Their transparent accounts of successes achieved alongside Novable and Yumana weren’t just inspiring. They were practical demonstrations of what works. They highlighted how moving from initial technology scouting to tangible results requires clear processes, internal alignment, and the right partners to navigate the complexities of corporate venturing. Their experiences validated the need for sophisticated innovation platforms that support the entire lifecycle.
This event also marked a significant milestone: the official launch of a strategic partnership between Novable and Yumana. Born from a shared vision, this collaboration addresses a critical gap in the market. Too often, the journey from identifying a promising startup to successfully co-developing and scaling a solution is fragmented.
Our partnership creates a seamless, end-to-end solution covering the entire open innovation value chain:
✅ Discovery & Scouting: Leveraging Novable’s powerful AI for comprehensive startup scouting, innovation scouting, and targeted technology scouting based on precise corporate needs.
✅ Screening & Evaluation: Implementing rigorous startup screening and innovation screening, often utilizing sophisticated startup ranking systems to identify the best-fit partners.
✅ Collaboration & Co-Development: Utilizing Yumana’s expertise to structure pilots, manage co-development projects, and foster effective startup relationship management.
✅ Scaling & Integration: Facilitating the transition from successful pilots to integrated solutions, embodying principles of effective venture clienting.
This combined offering provides the necessary competitive intelligence and operational framework for sustained innovation success.
Drawing from the insights shared by our speakers and the collective experience in the room, three core pillars emerged as essential for a high-impact strategy:
1️⃣ Embed Innovation. Acculturate and Transform, as success starts internally. Cultivating a company-wide culture receptive to innovation is non-negotiable. This means actively acculturating teams through workshops, embedding innovation practices into daily routines, and celebrating both wins and learnings. It’s about making innovation tangible, not just theoretical.
2️⃣ Harness Synergy. Combine Open & Collaborative Innovation since the most effective strategies blend the best of both worlds. A hybrid approach connects defined internal needs (collaborative innovation) with the vast potential of external solutions discovered through startup sourcing and innovation sourcing (open innovation). This synergy creates powerful traction, ensuring external solutions address real internal challenges.
3️⃣ Drive to Impact. Move Beyond the Pilot to Industrialization because the dreaded “pilot purgatory” must be avoided. While experimentation is key, the ultimate goal is business impact. This requires designing projects with scalability in mind from the outset, securing executive sponsorship, defining clear KPIs, and having a roadmap for integrating successful innovations into the core business. Effective startup monitoring throughout the pilot phase is crucial for making informed scaling decisions.
The conversations in Paris confirmed it. The dynamic between startups and corporations is a defining feature of modern business strategy. The Novable-Yumana partnership provides a powerful, integrated platform and methodology to navigate this landscape effectively, transforming innovation scouting from a reactive task into a proactive, strategic advantage.
We help organizations build robust open innovation capabilities, manage their startup relationship management effectively, and ultimately drive measurable growth. Exciting times ahead!
We are excited to discuss with you how a structured, end-to-end approach to open innovation can address your specific challenges and accelerate your innovation goals. Speak to our experts to get answers to your questions and challenges. Your proximity to the transformative potential of open innovation is a few clicks away – schedule a call below.
