“Is the computer the ultimate startup analyst?”

A strategic whitepaper on how AI + human expertise transforms startup scouting, reducing busywork, increasing relevance, and accelerating engagement.

Market shifts don’t wait. Up to 50% of today’s Fortune 500 won’t exist in 10 years, and 80% of executives say their current models are at risk, yet 82% of corporates agree startup collaboration is essential. This whitepaper explains why AI-powered scouting is now a core capability, not a nice-to-have.

Download the whitepaper for free here

What you will discover

What White paper is about

・The four strategic pillars that make modern venturing work: Personalization & Continuous Improvement, Context-Based Matching, Network Science, and Lean-Back Service.

‍・How to cut analysis time by ~80% and reach engagement ~50% faster by removing SAD Syndrome (Spot → Analyse → Drop).

‍・Why databases alone fall short (outdated, finance-only, keyword-heavy) and how bottom-up, live context fixes the relevance gap.

‍・The role of AI + experts: computers handle scale and noise; humans apply judgment, strategy, and negotiation.

How corporates act as catalysts of startup ecosystems, creating a virtuous cycle of innovation and exits.

Is this whitepaper theory or practice?

Both. It deconstructs legacy scouting, then shows how AI + human expertise operationalises corporate venturing with repeatability and speed.

How is this different from startup databases?

Databases skew to finance and keywords; they miss live activity, product context, and networks. We focus on bottom-up content, relationships, and personalization to raise match quality.

What measurable outcomes can we expect?

Teams typically see ~80% less time spent disqualifying and ~50% faster time-to-engagement, by compressing exploration phases.

Will AI replace our team?

No. The paper is explicit: AI handles the heavy lifting; humans make the decisions. That combination scales judgment without sacrificing quality.

Who should download this?

Heads of Innovation, CVC leads, Strategy/M&A, and Corporate Development teams seeking a defensible, context-rich scouting approach that aligns with business priorities.

We are proud of our 97% satisfaction rate

“Having a partner caring for the success of the project, daring to challenge and taking on responsibilities made a real difference. We can say that it was a success, and we received a lot of feedback on the quality of the participating companies”

Géraldine Doat

Corporate Innovation Manager, Framatome

"For our latest SCALE program, Novable managed to find 683 innovative companies, of which 72.6% were matching or exceeding our expectations. What's more, their iterative process helped us smoothly spread our outreach workload over the course of a month and a half. We were under a lot of pressure, and Novable never stopped delivering. Such a level of commitment to help us reach our objectives is rare."

Enya Steenssens

Senior Manager, PwC

"Our team scouts startups globally, and what we really like about Novable is that it doesn’t just surface companies, they’re vetted with a human-in-the-loop approach. That made a big difference, and we even brought some of these companies into our programs"

Tim Akgul

Head of incubation programs, Deutsche Telekom‍

"Each year we look for startups that are big enough to collaborate with Orange, based on a specific thematic. Novable helps us in this search, providing us with the right insights, and saving us a lot of time."

Ariane Chan

Open Innovation, Orange Belgium