Mastercard, Bosch Group, BP are the World’s Stars in Open Innovation

For the fifth year running, startups have been asked to nominate the most active corporates in terms of open innovation as part of the Corporate Startup Stars Awards, the prestigious annual prize launched under the European Commission’s Startup Europe Partnership initiative since 2016, this year scaling at global level thanks to the partnership consolidated between Mind the Bridge and the International Chamber of Commerce (ICC). 

Mastercard has secured the top position, followed by Bosch and BP, according to the ranking unveiled today during an all-digital Award Ceremony opened by Mariya Gabriel, European Commissioner for Innovation, Research, Culture, Education and Youth and French Secretary of State for the Digital Economy Cédric O.

“The Global Corporate Startup Stars (CSS) awards recognise and celebrate innovation across the world in all of its diverse forms. Whereas once, Silicon Valley was the pillar of “Open Innovation” and all countries wished to copy Silicon Valley, these days are foregone as each region and country across the world finds their own way to innovate and celebrate their successes – commented Alberto Onetti, Chairman of Mind the Bridge – This year, after four European editions, Corporate Startup Stars, thanks to the support of ICC, has branched out globally to discover new ways of innovating and new ways of corporations to collaborate with startups around the world.”

“Collaboration between established companies and startups can bring tremendous benefits to both – commented European Commissioner Mariya Gabriel – Startups get the possibility access resources and market insight to help them scale up, whilst for established companies, such collaborations can be a strong driver of innovation – as well as bring subtler benefits like cultural change. However, it is hard to get it right. The fact that many European companies are among the Corporate Startup Stars that are today awarded is a positive sign for our innovation ecosystem”.

In total, 50 companies from all over the world have been recognised: 25 as Global Corporate Startup Stars and 25 as Global Open Innovation Challengers. 

Along with Mastercard, Bosch Group and BP, companies named in the Top 25 Corporate Startup Stars in 2020 are: ABB, AB InBev, Autodesk, BBVA, BNP Paribas, BNY Mellon, Enel, ENGIE, Hewlett Packard Enterprise, HSBC, Iberdrola, KPN, NESTLÉ, PepsiCo, Samsung, SAP, Schneider Electric, Shell, Siemens, Sodexo, Telefónica and Vodafone.

The 25 companies awarded in the “Open Innovation Challengers” category are: ACCIONA, Amadeus IT Group, American Family Insurance, Banco Bradesco, BOE Art Cloud Technology Co., Ltd, BOUYGUES, CEMEX, Companhia Siderúrgica Nacional (CSN), Credicorp, DCP Midstream, Delta Air Lines, EDP, Enagás, Eni, Ferrovial, Grupo Bolívar, Grupo SURA, OCP Group, Orange, OTP Bank, Pfizer, Rabobank, Suzano, Zebra Technologies Corporation and Zurich Insurance.

“Innovation in challenging times is more vital than ever. While these pioneering companies are playing a leading role in their respective ecosystem, they are also having an impact internationally. Showcasing success stories and recognising the best-in-class efforts through these awards contributes to a virtuous cycle of positive influence that helps stimulate corporate-startup growth and collaboration globally” said John W.H. Denton AO, Secretary General of the International Chamber of Commerce.

Regional Awards went to Bosch Group (Europe), Mastercard (North America), Grupo Sura (South America), Samsung (APAC), and OCP Group (Africa).

Special awards for 6 categories single out approaches and best practices that merit recognition.

Mastercard, SAP and Telefónica received the “Corporate Startup Accelerator Award”, while the “Venture Client Award” for recognizing procurement and partnerships went to AB InBev, Enel and Vodafone.

Bosch Group, HSBC and Shell have been recognised with the Startup Investment Award. Autodesk, Hewlett Packard Enterprise and Siemens are recognised with the Startup Acquisition Award.

Nestlé has been awarded with the best Intrapreneurship Programme Award while BP Launchpad received the Venture Builder Award. 

Esquel and Suzano received the Internal Innovation Award. ARM, Davivienda and Global Omnium have been recognised with the Midcap Startup Stars Award. 

For the Public Sector the Open Innovation Award went to Health Service Executive. 

Corporate Startup Stars Methodology
This year, Mind the Bridge and the International Chamber of Commerce consolidated a partnership at a global level in order to gather applications from all over the world, and to stimulate the growth of corporate-startup collaboration globally, by showcasing success stories and awarding the best-in-class, thus stimulating a virtuous cycle where every actor positively influences the others.  Startups have also been asked through a public call to nominate the corporates that are more active and friendly in working with startups. Nominated corporates are then invited to apply for the Corporate Startup Stars Awards by providing detailed information and references regarding their open innovation organisation (such as innovation strategy, structure, processes and culture), activities (such as scouting, accelerators, procurement from startups, investment, acquisitions) and results achieved. Corporates identified through secondary research were also invited. The ranking includes only the companies that applied to the Corporate Startup Stars Awards by providing all the required information.