2020 edition2023-02-22T10:15:10+01:00

202o Corporate Startup STARS

This year, Mind the Bridge and the International Chamber of Commerce (ICC) consolidated a partnership to expand the Corporate Startup Startup Awards at global level. The ultimate goal is to foster corporate-startup collaborations globally, by showcasing success stories and awarding the best-in-class, thus stimulating a virtuous cycle in which every player positively influences the others.

The Corporate Startup Stars nominations resulted from the general ranking obtained by merging the quantitative and qualitative analyses of applications. As already done in the past editions, we divided the top 50 companies ranked into two main groups.
Corporate Startup Stars represent the first 25 companies in the ranking.

TOP 3 CORPORATE STARTUP STARS

OPEN INNOVATION CHALLENGERS

The Corporate Startup Stars nominations resulted from the general ranking obtained by merging the quantitative and qualitative analyses of applications. As already done in the past editions, we divided the top 50 companies ranked into two main groups.

Open Innovation Challengers represent all the remaining companies (i.e. those ranking between position 26 and 50).

PUBLIC SECTOR AWARDS

The special award for Public Sector Innovation is given to recognise the efforts of public entities moving into the open innovation space

INTERNAL INNOVATION AWARD

The nominee for the Internal Innovation special Award has been selected based on qualitative benchmarking to herald a new category that will be structured in the 2021 CSS application process.

CORPORATE STARTUP ACCELERATOR AWARD

Corporate Startup Accelerator Awards take into account the following parameters:

– Number of startups accelerated in the past 3 years;
– Geographic reach of the accelerator’s portfolio;
– Impact of the accelerated startups on the corporate business;
– Estimated financial return of the accelerator;
– Total package offered by the corporate to accelerated startups.

These awards do not provide any ranking. It helps highlight companies, approaches and initiatives that deserve to be recognized.

VENTURE BUILDER AWARD

The nominee for the Venture Builder special award has been selected based on qualitative benchmarking to herald a new category that will be even more structured in the 2021 CSS application process.

CORPORATE STARTUP PROCUREMENT AWARD

The nominations for the Corporate Startup Procurement Award opened taking into account the following parameters:

– The number of startup collaborations that resulted in a buyer/vendor long-term relationships;
– The dollar amount of such collaborations;
– The scale and the impact of such procurement collaborations on the overall corporate business.

These awards do not provide any ranking. It helps highlight companies, approaches and initiatives that deserve to be recognized.

CORPORATE STARTUP INVESTMENT AWARD

The Corporate Startup Investment Award takes into account the following parameters:

– Number of investments;
– Dollar amount of the investments;
– Estimated return on investment;
– Size and perceived relevance of the invested startups;
– Process put in place for investments: presence of a dedicated fund/CVC, a ventures team, etc.

These awards do not provide any ranking. It helps highlight companies, approaches and initiatives that deserve to be recognized.

STARTUP M&A AWARD

The Corporate Startup M&A Award takes into account the following parameters:

– Number of acquisitions done;
– Total dollar amount of the acquisitions;
– Integration and synergies with the acquired startups;
– Size and perceived relevance of the invested startups.

These awards do not provide any ranking. It helps highlight companies, approaches and initiatives that deserve to be recognized.

MIDCAP STARTUP STARS AWARD

The MidCap Startup Star Award only considers corporations with revenues below the threshold of $500M in revenues. It recognized 3 companies without providing a ranking.

CORPORATE INTRAPRENEURSHIP PROGRAMME AWARD

The nominee for the Intrapreneurship special award has been selected based on qualitative benchmarking factoring the parameters listed below to herald a new category that will be structured in the 2021 CSS application process.

– Presence of one or more programmes dedicated to stimulating entrepreneurial attitude of employees;
– Number and size of spin-outs;
– Innovation stories reported that came from employees
– Programs dedicated to train employees on the topics of Lean Methodology, Digital Transformation, and Open Innovation.

REGIONAL AWARDS

Following the Corporate Startup Stars and the Open Innovation Challengers, Mind the Bridge then proceeded to reward the best performers across different geographies: Europe, North America, Latin America, Asia, and Africa. Companies awarded in the top 3 positions of the ranking have not been considered for the Regional Awards.

REGIONAL AWARD NORTH AMERICA

REGIONAL AWARD EUROPE

REGIONAL AWARD APAC

REGIONAL AWARD SOUTH AMERICA

REGIONAL AWARD AFRICA

2021 edition awards2023-01-31T17:18:18+01:00

2021 Corporate Startup STARS

The Corporate Startup Stars nominations resulted from the general ranking obtained by merging the quantitative and qualitative analyses of applications. The top 50 ranked companies have been divided into two main groups.
Corporate Startup Stars represent the first 25 companies in the ranking.

TOP 3 CORPORATE STARTUP STARS

OPEN INNOVATION CHALLENGERS

Open Innovation Challengers represent all the remaining companies (i.e. those ranking between position 26 and 50). OI Challengers are those companies that are challenging the status quo and bringing forward novel approaches in the space of corporate Open Innovation

PUBLIC SECTOR AWARDS

The special award for Public Sector Innovation is given to recognise the efforts of public entities moving into
the open innovation space

INTRAPRENEURSHIP PROGRAM AWARD

The Corporate Startup Intrapreneurship Award takes into account the following parameters:

A. Presence of one or more programmes dedicated to stimulating entrepreneurial
attitude of employees;
B. Structure of the program;
C. Number and size of spin-outs;
D. Innovation stories reported that came from employees

STARTUP ACCELERATOR AWARD

The Corporate Startup Intrapreneurship Award takes into account the following parameters:

A. Presence of one or more programmes dedicated to stimulating entrepreneurial
attitude of employees;
B. Structure of the program;
C. Number and size of spin-outs;
D. Innovation stories reported that came from employees

VENTURE BUILDER AWARD

The Corporate Startup Venture Builder Award takes into account the following parameters:

A. Structure and goals of the Builder;
B. Total dollar amount of the investments;
C. Number, growth and perceived relevance of the of new ventures;
D. Integration and synergies with the acquired startups.

These awards do not provide any ranking. It helps highlight emerging approaches and initiatives that deserve to be recognized.

STARTUP PROCUREMENT AWARD

The nominations for the Corporate Startup Procurement Award opened taking into account the following parameters:

A. The number of startup collaborations that resulted in a buyer/vendor long-term relationships;
B. The dollar amount of such collaborations;
C. The scale and the impact of such procurement collaborations on the overall corporate business.

These awards do not provide any ranking. It helps highlight companies, approaches and initiatives that deserve to be recognized.

STARTUP INVESTMENT AWARD

The Corporate Startup Investment Award takes into account the following parameters:

A. Number of investments;
B. Dollar amount of the investments;
C. Estimated return on investment;
D. Size and perceived relevance of the invested startups;

E. Process put in place for investments: presence of a dedicated fund/CVC, a ventures team, etc.

These awards do not provide any ranking. It helps highlight companies, approaches and initiatives that deserve to be recognized.

STARTUP M&A AWARD

The Corporate Startup M&A Award takes into account the following parameters:

A. Number of acquisitions done;
B. Total dollar amount of the acquisitions;
C. Integration and synergies with the acquired startups;
D. Size and perceived relevance of the acquired startups.

These awards do not provide any ranking. It helps highlight companies, approaches and initiatives that deserve to be recognized.

REGIONAL AWARDS

Following the Corporate Startup Stars and the Open Innovation Challengers, Mind the Bridge then proceeded to reward the best performers across different geographies: Europe, North America, Latin America, Asia, and Africa. Companies awarded in the top 3 positions of the ranking have not been considered for the Regional Awards.

REGIONAL AWARD NORTH AMERICA

REGIONAL AWARD EUROPE

REGIONAL AWARD APAC

REGIONAL AWARD MIDDLE EAST

REGIONAL AWARD SOUTH AMERICA

REGIONAL AWARD AFRICA

Special Category Awards2023-01-31T15:53:30+01:00

2022 Corporate Startup Accelerator

This award takes into account the following parameters: 

  1. Number of startups accelerated per year;
  2. Geographic reach of the accelerator’s portfolio;
  3. Impact of the accelerated startups on the corporate business;
  4. Estimated financial return of the accelerator;
  5. Total package offered by the corporate to accelerated startups.

2022 Venture Client Awards

This award takes into account the following parameters: 

  1. Number of startup collaborations;
  2. Geographic reach of procurement activities;
  3. Scale and impact of such procurement collaborations on the overall corporate business.

2022 Venture Capital Awards

This award takes into account the following parameters: 

  1. Number of investments;
  2. Estimated return on investment;
  3. Size of the fund/Capital invested;
  4. Size and perceived relevance of the invested startups, and overall impact on the corporate business.
  5. Process put in place for investments: presence of a dedicated fund/CVC, a ventures team, etc.

2022 Startup M&A Award

This award takes into account the following parameters: 

  1. Number of acquisitions done;
  2. Total dollar amount of the acquisitions;
  3. Impact of the acquired startups on the corporate business;
  4. Size and perceived relevance of the acquired startups.

2022 Venture Builder Award

This award takes into account the following parameters: 

  1. Structure and goals of the Venture Builder;
  2. Number, growth and perceived relevance of new ventures;
  3. Impact of new ventures on the company’s core business.
  4. Innovativeness and novelty of the adopted approach to corporate venture building.

2022 Intrapreneurship Program Award

This award takes into account the following parameters: 

  1. Presence of one or more programmes dedicated to stimulating entrepreneurial attitude of employees;
  2. Structure of the program;
  3. Success stories reported and overall impact of the program.

2022 Innovation Organization Award

The Innovation Organization Award takes into account an organizational setup that enables and promotes
non-incremental innovation reaching beyond their current core business scope.

2022 Winner Orbit

Rising Stars Awards2023-01-25T10:40:36+01:00

2022 RISING STARS AWARDS

“Rising Stars Award” category has been created in order to award those Open Innovation
best practices put in place by companies outside of the Fortune 500/ Forbes 2000 lists.

Regional Awards 20222022-12-15T10:52:54+01:00

2022 REGIONAL AWARDS

NORTH AMERICA CORPORATE STARTUP STAR

SOUTH AMERICA CORPORATE STARTUP STAR

EUROPE CORPORATE STARTUP STAR

EAST ASIA CORPORATE STARTUP STAR

MIDDLE EAST CORPORATE STARTUP STAR

AFRICA CORPORATE STARTUP STAR

CHINA CORPORATE STARTUP STAR

OIC 20222022-12-23T12:29:27+01:00

2022 OPEN INNOVATION CHALLENGERS

Open Innovation Challengers are those companies that are challenging the status quo and bringing
forward novel approaches in the space of corporate Open Innovation.

CSS 2022 winners2023-01-12T15:18:11+01:00

2022 CORPORATE STARTUP STARS

Corporate Startup Stars are those companies that are fostering best-in-class Open Innovation
practices and promoting corporate-startup collaborations globally.

TOP 1 CORPORATE STARTUP STAR

My Stellar Gift | Corporate Startup Stars 20222022-11-14T16:23:41+01:00

Welcome! 

If you landed here, it means you want to know more about the Corporate Startup Stars Event in London on Dec. 6th 2022. That’s great and we have a surprise for you! Actually, 3 surprises:
  1. The full recording of the stellar panel featured by The Economist Impact and moderated by The Economist journalist Avantika Chilkoti.
  2. A summary with the main learning points of the panel, edited by The Economist.
  3. The brand-new report “Evolve or Be Extinct – Current and Future Models of Open Innovation” from the 2022 World’s Corporate Startup Stars.

We would be happy to send you the above right after the event.

Please fill the blanks to request the above documents and… Stay Tuned!
Which verticals are you interested in? *
Are you interested in checking startups’ solutions in any of these areas? *
Where did you hear about us? *
YT Test2022-10-12T15:39:57+01:00
Home2023-05-02T11:17:38+01:00

Corporate Startup Stars is the annual celebration of the best global practices
and role models in open innovation

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

Corporate
Startup
Stars

Best-in-class Open Innovation practices and promoting corporate-startup collaborations globally

Open
Innovation
Challengers

Challengers of the status quo bringing forward novel approaches in the space of corporate Open Innovation

Regional
Awards

North American, South American, Europe, East Asia, India, China, Middle East, Africa, Australia

Rising Stars
Award

Companies not listed in the Fortune 500/Forbes 2000 list, with emerging approaches

Special
Category
Awards

Corporate Startup
Accelerator

Corporate Venture Client
Award

Corporate Venture Capital
Award

Startup M&A
Award

Venture Builder
Award

Intrapreneurship Program
Award

Innovation Organization
Award

Winner Orbit

2022 Winner Corporate Startup Star

“Although the modes of collaboration are in continuous evolution, there are best practices that are arising as well as KPIs for measuring impact”

2022 Corporate Startup Star Pictures

Evolve or be Extinct

Open Innovation – a democratized approach to innovation where collaboration among internal and external resources replaces conventional closed R&D silos – is fast becoming ubiquitous. 95% of organizations now report leveraging Open Innovation practices, with 54% doing so on “most” or “all” projects, according to a recent research report from
The Economist (2022).

Back in 2016, when we first launched the “Corporate Startup Stars Awards”, the goal was to shed light on a fast emerging phenomena: corporate-startup collaboration. Experimentation was the rule of the game.

Six years later, companies have gathered experience and focus on results: the ultimate goal of the Awards that today we run in partnership with the International Chamber of Commerce (ICC), is to foster corporate-startup collaboration globally, by showcasing success stories and the best-in-class, thus stimulating a virtuous cycle in which every player positively influences each other.

This report aims at presenting data points, trends, lessons learned, and best practices from the global 100 2022 Corporate Startup Stars.

Learn from the best in class

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.

An application form was also available on the website corporatestartupstars.com to allow every other company to apply. 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), and M&A (Acquisitions).

Judging Committee

In defining the final ranking we will be helped by a panel of judges composed of the following exceptional professionals

Follow us

Home #2 Back up2022-09-23T10:26:04+01:00

Corporate Startup Stars

2022 Awards Edition in collaboration with Economist Impact

London

2022 Awards Celebration

This year Awards Celebration will be held in London

Corporate Startup Stars is the annual
celebration of the best global practices
and role models in open innovation

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

The Celebration of Best Practices and Role Models in Open Innovation

2021 Top 3 Corporate Startup Stars

Winner

Corporate
Startup
Star

Second place

Corporate
Startup
Star

Third place

Corporate
Startup
Star

Learn from the best in class

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.

An application form was also available on the website corporatestartupstars.com to allow every other company to apply. 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), and M&A (Acquisitions).

Judging Committee

In defining the final ranking we will be helped by a panel of judges composed
of the following exceptional professionals

2022 Awards Categories

Corporate
Startup
Stars

Best-in-class Open Innovation practices and promoting corporate-startup collaborations globally

Open
Innovation
Challengers

Challengers of the status quo bringing forward novel approaches in the space of corporate Open Innovation

Regional
Awards

North American, South American, Europe, East Asia, India, China, Middle East, Africa, Australia

Supernova
Award

Born in the past 25 years, performing extremely well in working with other startups

Rising Stars
Award

Companies not listed in the Fortune 500/Forbes 2000 list, with emerging approaches

Special
Category
Awards

Corporate Startup
Accelerator

Corporate Venture Client
Award

Corporate Venture Capital
Award

Startup M&A
Award

Venture Builder
Award

Intrapreneurship Program
Award

Innovation Organization
Award

Winner Orbit

2016 Edition2023-02-16T09:12:29+01:00

2016 Award Ceremony

Celebration of Best Practices
and Role Models in Open Innovation

Top 25 2016 Corporates Startup Stars

1. Cisco 6. Orange 11. KPMG 16. Microsoft 21. EDF
2. Rabobank 7. Telecom Italia 12. RBS 17. Sky 22. Diaegeo
3. Unilever 8. BBVA 13. WPP 18. KLM 23. BMW
4. Telefonica 9. KPN 14. Eneco 19. Accenture 24. PWC
5. Virgin 10. EDP 15. MSD 20. SAP SE 25. METRO

“Europe’s 25 Corporate Startup Stars celebrates the myriad ways that corporates are now working with startups. The number of interactions has grown in the last five years as increasing numbers see new companies as an opportunity rather than a threat, with both learning from the other. We hope the ranking acts as food for thought for big businesses wanting to stay at the forefront of trends and grow their market share.”

– Chris Haley, Head of Startups and New Technology Research at Nesta

2017 Edition2023-02-16T09:12:36+01:00

2017 Award Ceremony

Celebration of Best Practices
and Role Models in Open Innovation

Top 3 2017 Corporates Startup Stars

““We need to maximize the potential of linking established corporations and start-ups across Europe, which is a clear win-win. The more that start-ups can access invaluable resources and market insight, the more established corporations can benefit from the exciting new innovations of our most talented innovators. It is this win-win scenario that we would like to achieve with the European Innovation Council, starting with the €2.7bn pilot phase that was launched just a few weeks ago that includes financial support for innovative SMEs and mentoring and coaching from experienced players.”

– Carlos Moedas, European Commissioner

2018 Edition2023-02-16T09:12:43+01:00

2018 Award Ceremony

Celebration of Best Practices
and Role Models in Open Innovation

Top 3 2018 Corporates Startup Stars

“Innovation is key to sustained corporate success, and collaboration between startups and corporates as a form of open innovation can bring tremendous value to both parties. However, it is difficult to get right. These awards showcase firms which have managed to bridge the differences in size and culture, working effectively with startups and scaleups for mutual benefit.”

– Christopher Haley, Head of New Technology & Startup Research, Nesta

2019 Edition2023-01-31T10:47:55+01:00

2019 Award Ceremony

Celebration of Best Practices
and Role Models in Open Innovation

Top 3 2019 Corporates Startup Stars

““A sustainable ecosystem of innovation in Europe requires both startups able to grow dimensionally and internationally and established corporates capable to innovate. Then corporate-startup collaboration might benefit both sides. That’s why initiative such as SEP Europe’s Corporate Startup Stars are important to showcase best practices and role models.”

– Mariya Gabriel, European Commissioner for Innovation, Research, Culture, Education and Youth

2021 Edition2022-04-22T10:34:47+01:00

2021 년판

What are the most important open innovation activities at your company?
How do you measure success in open innovation? KPIs?
How have your Open Innovation activities advanced in the last couple of years?


These are some of the questions we asked some of the biggest companies around the world.
Find out what they say.