Executive summary
Corporates across Asia Pacific want startup innovation, and startups want corporate customers. Yet many collaborations stall between pilot and purchase. This playbook explains why and how both sides can structure partnerships that reach commercial deployment.
The opportunity and supporting evidence
IESE Business School's 2021 study of corporate venturing in East and Southeast Asia analysed more than 100 companies collaborating with startups, with examples including Toyota, Samsung, Alibaba and Lenovo. IESE reported that global deep-tech startup investment grew from $15 billion in 2016 to $60 billion in 2020, and that 71% of companies analysed planned to increase the weight of deep-tech startups in their corporate-venturing portfolios.
The World Economic Forum's practical guide on start-up and corporate collaboration (2018, with a European focus) sets out the benefits, risks and challenges for both sides, and the main collaboration models.
In Singapore, the Open Innovation Network, run by Enterprise Singapore and IMDA, lists challenges from companies and agencies seeking co-development and test-bedding partners.
Nirji's interpretation. Interest is not the bottleneck. The gap is usually structural – who owns the outcome, who pays after the pilot, and whether procurement can buy from a young company.
Countries, sectors and participants
Potential collaboration models
Operating considerations and constraints
Practical next steps
For corporates:
For startups:
For both: agree a timeline from pilot to purchase decision.
What remains uncertain
Evidence on conversion rates from pilot to deployment in Asia Pacific is limited. Some sources cited here are several years old and were chosen for their frameworks rather than current data.