Large groups/startups - the relationship is shifting towards a co-construction model

This article was originally published on https://www.ecommercemag.fr

The Village by CA and Capgemini presented the results of the Baromètre des relations Grands groupes start-ups. The survey integrates a focus on Covid-19 and a new theme: the risks and apprehensions related to the collaboration between start-ups and large groups.

Relationships between start-ups and large groups are still characterized by a discrepancy in the objectives to be achieved and the means to be implemented, according to the Baromètre des relations Grands groupes start-ups du Village by CA, a unique ecosystem where start-ups and large groups meet and cooperate to innovate together, which has measured, in partnership with Capgemini, the evolution of these relationships.

Conducted for the fourth consecutive year, the "2020 Baromètre de la relation start-up/grand groupe" analyzes the evolution of this relationship according to four main indicators: speed, simplicity, benevolence and value creation. The 2020 survey, conducted from March 12 to May 10, 2020, includes a focus on Covid-19 and a new theme: the risks and apprehensions related to the collaboration between start-ups and large groups.

Key Lessons:
56% of start-ups and 53% of large groups saw their collaboration projects put on hold during the Covid-19 crisis. 29% of large groups refocused on their core business.
75% of large groups identify innovation in customer experience as a priority for collaboration with start-ups, while for 82% of start-ups it is the increase in turnover that is the most important factor.
Speed remains a major issue: Rapid scale-up of solutions is the biggest challenge in collaboration. A unanimous number of start-ups (96%) and more than three-quarters of large groups (75%) find these timescales too long.
On the positive side, priorities shifted for both types of respondents. Today, cultural clashes, or innovation as such, are no longer essential obstacles to collaboration. The simple paid POC is being replaced by the realization of industrialized and scaled solutions involving more complex relationships. In the same way, the relationship has evolved towards a co-construction model in which start-ups, true partners, sell more quickly to large groups (thus responding to their turnover priority) and develop their product or solution through this collaboration.

Covid-19 Focus:

Put online a few days before the lockdown, the questionnaire was quickly supplemented by a question on the impact of the crisis. On this point, no disparity, the first impact described is identical on both sides: 56% of start-ups and 53% of large groups have seen their collaborative projects put on stand-by.

The second impact felt by large groups was the refocusing of their activity on their core business (29%), leading to a drop in prospecting and exchanges with start-ups (18%).

For the latter, the second impact felt was the slowdown both in exchanges with the major groups and in the implementation of the solution (17%).

It should be noted that, unlike large groups, several startups identify in the crisis opportunities for development and an increase in the value of their solutions (12%).

Impacts felt by major groups following the COVID-19 crisis

"In the short term, all stakeholders in the innovation chain are focusing on their immediate priorities: business and service continuity for large groups and business opportunities and cash flow for start-ups", ...says Seddik Jamaï, Head of Fintech at Capgemini Invent. "In the longer term, the reduction of exchanges with start-ups and prospecting could delay the implementation of future projects. However, it can be a strategic mistake to exclude innovation from a group's priorities.

"This year we can clearly notice that yesterday's challenges have become almost self-evident, and in order to support start-ups and large groups, we need to review the levers of collaboration and work on new subjects. Building together a new charter of best practices and collaboration between start-ups and large groups is fundamental to achieve this," says Fabrice Marsella, director of the Village by CA Paris. "This is very positive and illustrates much more mature relationships and more achievements".