With a number of high-profile events providing distinctive viewpoints on corporate venturing and strategic startup collaboration, June 2025 was a pivotal month for innovation leaders. This month’s focus was on effective corporate startup collaboration, exploring the vital combination of cutting-edge technology and human insight.
💡 Key Takeaways for Innovation Leaders:
The Model: Venture Clienting is a powerful, agile tool for corporations to validate startup solutions without equity.
The Mindset: It’s not about being faster, but smarter. The future belongs to “AI-native” humans, not just AI itself.
The Method: Successful partnerships (like Orange & Manual.to) require a real problem, a structured process, and a team empowered to act.
The Mandate: You don’t need an “AI strategy,” you need a product strategy that intelligently leverages AI.
We are happy to share our insights from the front lines of these events! Here’s what we covered:
👀 The upcoming dualoop x Novable webinar!
On June 5th, 2025, at The Egg in Brussels, Lyreco Group hosted its Future of Work Conference, bringing together industry leaders to explore the evolution of the modern workplace.
Discussions from their innovation accelerator, “Lyreco Pioneers,” centered on:
Workplace Culture & Well-being
Technology & Sustainability
During the event, our founder, Laurent Kinet, discussed the Venture Clienting model. This innovative approach allows corporations to act as early clients for startups, providing crucial validation and fostering agile growth. It’s a prime example of effective corporate startup collaboration in action. Learn more about What is Venture Clienting and who can do it?
A recurring theme was that while AI accelerates everything, the real goal is to be smarter, not just faster. As one speaker put it:
“AI won’t replace humans. Humans who are AI-native will replace those who aren’t.”
This speaks directly to our mission: helping companies engage with startups that are not just tech-savvy, but truly future-ready.
But this is not the end. Can you believe that we were at another event at that same time? Moving on to BSA, Belgium Startup Awards.
Laurent Kinet delivered a keynote, “50 Ways to Work with Startups (That You’re Probably not Using),” offering no-BS insights on strategic engagement models. The presentation drew on extensive experience in Corporate Venturing, which covers the full spectrum of corporate startup collaboration, from partnerships to M&A.
On the same day, the Belgian Startup Awards (BSA) provided another platform for vital discussions on corporate-startup collaboration. Incredible startups pitching, fireside chats full of experience-sharing, what can be a better way to show the Belgian startup ecosystem? A huge thanks to Nicolas Debray and the BSA team for a successful event!
A Case Study in Action: Orange & Manual.to
One of the highlights was a fireside chat demonstrating how this collaboration works in practice.
The Corporate: Orange Fab (Ariane Chan & Pierluigi Pelliccia), the company’s open innovation platform.
The Startup: Manual.to (Jorim Rademaker), an enterprise-ready solution provider.
Jorim highlighted the keys to their success with Orange: they had a “real problem, a structured way of working, and a team that didn’t just ‘explore innovation’ but knew how to act on it.” This successful model showcased how mutual respect and transparent communication create value.
Being fully honest, this fireside chat and communication with Ariane, Pierluigi and Jorim has given us a moment to be yet again grateful for the people we work with our Belgian ecosystem. It’s fascinating to see such impressive souls work together!
Our Partners in Action
Our supportive partner, dualoop, also shared their product expertise, hosting sessions like “You don’t need an AI strategy. You need a product one.” and offering hands-on coaching to the BSA winners – a perfect example of adding real value to the ecosystem.
Looking ahead to June 25th, Novable is co-hosting a webinar with dualoop. Martin Crochelet and Laurent Kinet will share real-world stories on how product management principles can de-risk and accelerate venture building – a key outcome of successful corporate startup collaboration.
This webinar is crucial for anyone involved in corporate innovation or scaling new ventures.
🗓️ Agenda
11:00 AM – Keynote: A Product Management Approach to Venture Building
11:30 AM – Fireside chat with Laurent Kinet
11:50 AM – Q&A
⚡️ Why attend?
Learn how product thinking can de-risk and accelerate new ventures.
Hear real-world insights from leaders in innovation and product strategy.
Rethink how your organization approaches venture creation from day one.
Don’t miss out! Join us through 🔗 this link 🔗.
These events clearly show the energy and opportunity within our ecosystem. If you enjoyed this read, please share your feedback. Happy innovating!
