Startups are in vogue and they constitute an important source of growth. As Xavier Ferràs explains in his publication on his Innovación 6.0 blog, opportunities are not always born organically from within organisations but can arise from synergies with the ecosystem. In keeping with this, many companies launch collaboration or incubation programmes with startups. If this subject interests you, here’s another post by Xavier Ferràs, “Catapults of Start-ups”.
Nowadays many companies run collaboration projects with startups, a practice which is known as Corporate Entrepreneurship. We first published a post (spanish version) on this issue back in 2013, looking at the rising trend in this innovation approach. In fact, we came across many initiatives in progress, although they don’t always deliver the expected or tangible business results.
At Connociam we work on Corporate Entrepreneurship projects with a specific methodology designed to generate business results aligned with the corporate strategy. These are also excellent vehicles that help to promote more agile work procedures.
Since 2011, at Connociam we have developed various projects using Corporate Entrepreneurship and other similar methodologies such as Open Innovation or the Ecosystem Strategy, with different companies. Among other things, we helped in drawing up the initial methodology for the Generalitat de Cataluña’s “Empenta” program, which has been running for some years now.
Recently we had the good luck to collaborate on the interesting Sanofi Health-U 2019 entrepreneurship initiative led by Oliver Pou, Consumer & Market Insights Lead at Sanofi Spain. The objective of this program is to develop innovation proposals that improve people’s quality of life and wellbeing either via direct support to patients or by providing support to healthcare professionals
The process began by aligning Sanofi’s strategic objectives with the startup identification criteria. We then commenced an extensive scouting of over 100 startups, structured into different phases, and came up with 5 finalists.
They opted in favor of a mobile platform that enables you to effectively customize diets, create menus and recipes, and communicate with the patient. This tool features a module for sportspeople where you can organize your physical activities. There is also a module for restaurants that features information on every dish on the menu.
This proposal is a mobile app that monitors the user’s body and uses an algorithm to predict when they are going to have a migraine. Patients receive a warning on their mobile phone so that they can take preventive measures to reduce the pain.
A mobile application that features a traffic light with colors that indicate which products are better for your health. All you have to do is scan the product barcode with the mobile device.
This solution is based on a mobile application whereby users can chat directly with healthcare professionals to discuss issues concerning their health. The platform enables you to send photos, videos, analytics and medical reports to specialists.
Their solution is based on presenting an application to people who want to work in the healthcare field and more specifically in the pharmaceutical sector and for pharmacies that are seeking job candidates.
The finalists had the opportunity to take part in a Hackathon held in the Barcelona Health Hub. A work team was set up for each startup, which consisted of people from both Sanofi and the start-up. The Hackathon was structured into a series of sessions and workshops where the teams came up with a joint collaboration proposal for each project. This was all done using a methodology designed ad-hoc by Connociam.
As Adrien Chabrier, General Manager of Sanofi CHC Iberia, points out, Health U 2019 was an absolute success: “the teams’ incredible dynamism and spirit of collaboration” managed to come up with very interesting proposals.
The winner of this year’s edition was Mediquo, whose solution improves people’s healthcare options by connecting patients with medical professionals, one of Sanofi CHC’s key objectives.
Oliver Pou (left), Sanofi Consumer & Market Insights Lead Spain, and Adrien Chabrier (right), General Manager of Sanofi CHC Iberia, hand out the prize to the Mediquo team.
After the Hackathon, Sanofi and the winner worked on jointly developing a pilot. Thanks to this pilot Mediquo can go on to refine and develop its proposal whilst counting on Sanofi’s knowhow and expertise in the healthcare sector.
Today, collaboration with the entrepreneurship ecosystem is crucial for any company that wants to grow and also to gather the knowledge and innovation that is being developed in all sectors. The digital transformation we are witnessing is constantly giving rise to new collaboration initiatives between companies and start-ups. In addition to the communication that these activities generate, it is important to seek out innovations that have a positive impact on the development of the business. With the right methodology and expertise, such as that offered by Connociam, these initiatives can be turned into innovation projects with a real positive impact on profit and loss accounts. On top of this, they are also an excellent vehicle for cultural change and the introduction of more agile methodologies.
The Connociam team has successfully undertaken various initiatives in this field and will be happy to share them with you if they are of interest to you.
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