An app for startups to establish partnerships with large global corporations
Open Innovation. The term is common in both companies and academics, and most of the world’s largest companies have integrated open innovation in their core innovation strategies. But there are many different ways and solutions to work with it. One of them is Translucent innovation, a digital platform for open innovation developed by RISE together with SISP and Business Sweden. We asked the man behind the platform, Erik Ronne, Vice President Innovation at RISE, if he could tell us some more.
What is Translucent innovation?
- It’s an app for open innovation based on the form Request for Propsals (RfP). The purpose of the app is for companies to share their technical challenges in hope to scout solutions, often from startups or academic reseachers. Translucent innovation is a way for companies, startups and academia to work with open innovation together.
The requests mainly come from large corporations, several listed as Fortune 500 companies. The app is free to download and open for anyone to use - startups, SME and large corporations can all use it as a way to find new partners, collaborations, customers and expertise competence.
How does the app work?
- A company’s identified challenges are formalized and described in a form that is published and displayed on a feed in the app. The company posting the challenges can control what information is displayed and who can see the request. It’s even possible to be completely anonymous when posting so the information doesn’t end up in the wrong hands.
- The requests are spread to the entire RISE organization with over 2800 researchers, scientist and employees and to the members of SISP – Swedish incubators and Science Parks located all over Sweden. The company then awaits respondents to submit notice that they have a solution to the request.
- All the persons and companies that submitted a solution get to present their idea for the company who then chooses the option they want to continue working with.
What’s in it for the startups presenting a solution?
- Seventy percent of the connected companies are global corporations and the rest are big Swedish companies. It’s safe to say that this is a great opportunity for startups to establish and build relations with crucial partners. Through the platform the startups can find customers and maybe get that first order to use as a reference case, explains Erik.
What do the respondents get for presenting a solution?
The two parties involved come to an agreement together which can for example result in an invoiced order, a sold patent or a partnership where the startup becomes a subcontractor for services, solutions and expertise.
Translucent innovation is a collaboration between three innovation partners
The organizations that has developed the platform contributes to the Translucent innovation process in different ways.
Business Sweden helps global corporations to find and partner up with Swedish startups and researchers and can now use the app as a tool for that.
The members of SISP identifies startups that might have a solution to the requests and RISE has the resources to facilitate the process. RISE is also the intermediator and can validate startup technologies on the behalf of the large company
If you are curious about the app and want to know more, contact