3-Phase Approach for Open Corporate Accelerators (OCAs)

The need to expedite innovation is not limited to a certain sector. Existing firms in a range of sectors are well aware of the competitive dangers presented by their insufficient Innovation chains. Additionally, they are aware of how quickly startups may embrace new technologies.

This realization gave rise to the Open Corporate Accelerators (OCA) concept, which needs less capital investment than the regular Corporate Accelerator method.

Traditionally, a single company begins Corporate Accelerators for its own advantage. In contrast, OCAs allow multiple sponsors and may entice a bigger number of more established enterprises.

OCAs may include of academic institutions, corporate sponsors, Original Equipment Manufacturers (OEMs), suppliers, and enterprises from a variety of industries.

There are 4 important differences between an OCA and a conventional CA:

1. As is the case with Open Innovation programs, sponsors lose ultimate control over the design and content of the platform’s program.

2. Due of the non-exclusivity of sponsorships, individual sponsors lose brand exposure under an OCA model.

3. Sponsors may use OCAs to remedy specific gaps in their goods or processes as opposed to seeking broad Innovation, whose initial applicability is dubious.

4. The unique solution loses its exclusivity due to the extensive participation of sponsors and solution providers in an OCA.

Sponsors may capitalize on the Innovation potential presented by the OCA model by following these 3 best practices.

• Develop assurance internally for outside Innovation.
• Willingly take up cooperation with competing companies (co-opetition).
• Select areas to pursue.

OCA also minimizes the uncertainty associated with cooperation with early-stage firms using unproven technology, resulting in quicker, more efficient deployments.

Open Corporate Accelerators adhere to the same 3-phase framework as traditional Corporate Accelerators.

1. Search and Selection

2. Solution Conversion

3. Solution Assimilation

Let’s investigate the steps in further detail.

Search and Selection

In phase 1 of the OCA process, it is challenging to align startup technology with BU requirements. This can be accomplished by hosting recurring events focused to a certain technology at which entrepreneurs engage with relevant BUs.

Solution Conversion

The most challenging component of the 2nd phase of the OCA approach is demonstrating that a startup’s solution fulfills the sponsor’s requirements precisely. Startups discover that achieving sponsors’ development criteria is challenging, particularly with regards to quality and timeliness requirements.

These challenges may be overcome by forcing startups and business units to establish and manage Proof-of-Concept (POC) programs cooperatively.

Solution Assimilation

In the final phase, scaling up the solution is the primary challenge. Typically, startups have several objectives and are under great pressure to marshal and plan the required resources to achieve scaling. Proof-of-Concept projects assist in establishing if a solution is advantageous or not.

Effective transition from solution adaptation to assimilation is achieved by ensuring that the solution and team of the startup are firmly planted inside the sponsoring organization.

Interested in learning more about Open Corporate Accelerator (OCA)? You can download an editable PowerPoint on Open Corporate Accelerator (OCA) here on the Flevy documents marketplace.

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