Why are we doing this?

Collaboration between the two worlds of startups and corporates is, in many cases, mutually beneficial. Successful collaboration can benefit larger firms through access to innovative ideas and new technologies, while startups and scale-ups benefit from access to greater resources, market insight, and customer validation. The net result is more ideas being brought to life.

However, although increasing numbers of large firms talk about collaboration with smaller firms, there is great variation in their experience, attitudes and ability. Tackling internal barriers and bridging the cultural divide requires a lot of effort.

What are we doing?

Europe’s Corporate Startup Stars is a competition, now in its third year, that aims to identify and acknowledge those large firms that work well with startups and scale-ups, considering a wide range of activities, from accelerators, through procurement, to acquisition.

The ranking is created by Nesta and the advisory firm Mind the Bridge, as part of the Startup Europe Partnership (SEP), an initiative funded by the European Commission’s Horizon 2020 Research and Innovation programme.

The 2017 awards saw SAP, Telefonica and Virgin selected as Europe’s top three startup-friendly corporates from over 100 nominees, with another 30 companies being recognised as active players in the open innovation field. A research report, 'Open Innovation in Europe' was also published by Nesta and Mind the Bridge, to provide a snapshot of the state of corporate-startup collaboration.

How can you help?

Nominations for the 2018 Europe’s Corporate Stars are now closed.

Nominees will now be asked for additional information, which will be reviewed by an expert judging committee. In order to be assessed by the judging committee, the nominated corporates need to have concretely engaged with at least one European startup. Full conditions are available here. FAQs here.

The winners will be revealed in late autumn 2018.