The session provided a valuable opportunity to exchange insights, assess which Open Innovation tools have proven effective in practice, and explore priorities and plans looking ahead.
What is Corporate Startup Stars
Organized by Mind the Bridge in partnership with the International Chamber of Commerce, the CSS recognizes trailblazing international companies in the area of corporate-startup collaboration.
Awards CategorIes
Corporate Startup Stars
World’s top 100 companies running best-in-class Open Innovation practices and promoting corporate-startup collaborations globally.
Special Category Awards
Trend setters and best performers for Venture Client, CVC, Intrapreneurship, Startup Acceleration, Venture Building, Innovation Organization, Diversity and Sustainability.
Rising Stars
World’s 5 Companies (not included in the Forbes Global 2000 and Fortune Global 500 lists) particularly active in emerging innovation ecosystems that excel in open innovation.
Why it matters
Numbers that define innovation impact
100
+
Corporations
25
+
Countries
6
Continents
10
+
Editions
2025 Awards
Discover the organizations recognized in 2025 for redefining innovation leadership through bold collaboration with startups and transformative initiatives.
Top 1 Winner
Orbit Winners
Evolve or be extinct
The opportunity of engaging with heads of innovation from several of the world’s Top 100 most innovative corporations.
Five core questions:
How much?
Where?
Who?
How?
What?
Learn from the best in class
Interviews with witnesses
“…By leveraging its tools, software, and expertise, NVIDIA continues to empower startups, helping them accelerate their growth and reach new heights in the AI landscape.”
Serge Lemonde
Senior Director for Worldwide Startups at NVIDIA
“Sometimes we use the term “innovation” too loosely. We label things as “innovation pipeline” when it’s just a development pipeline.”
Benji Coetzee
Chief Strategy & Development Officer at KPN
“summarizes the main pillars of what Microsoft is uniquely doing in the promotion of entrepreneurship and startup collaboration…”
Anthony Virapin
Worldwide Leader, Entrepreneurship for Positive Impact at Microsoft
“We are still taking advantage of the C”. Volkswagen Group Innovation plays as an interface between the funds and the business units. The goal is to provide the fund with technical expertise…”
Nikolai Ardey
Executive Director Volkswagen Group Innovation
Methodology
Mind the Bridge, in partnership with the International Chamber of Commerce (ICC) developed a framework to recognize the best companies in Open Innovation and Corporate-Startup Collaboration.
Forbes 2000 and Fortune Global 500 companies based on publicly available information were analyzed and the best in Open Innovation were presented to a Judging Committee composed of independent experts from different innovation backgrounds.
In sum, overall results achieved across seven Open Innovation variables were factored:
Innovation Organizational Structure
Intrapreneurship
Accelerator
Venture Builder
Venture Client (Procurement from startups)
CVC (Startup Investments)
M&A (Acquisitions)
