What are the key ingredients for open innovation success? Jeremy Basset is CEO of CO:CUBED, where he works with some of the world’s largest businesses to re-think their organisational approach to innovation, and help them build and execute their collaborative innovation capabilities. Prior to launching CO:CUBED, Jeremy spent 13 years at Unilever where he was responsible for launching and then leading the Unilever Foundry, Unilever’s platform to engage with startups and innovative companies who can help Unilever pioneer the future. Through the Foundry, over 1500 of Unilever marketers have worked with over 150 startups, bringing innovative technology and an entrepreneurial culture to Unilever. Jeremy Basset CEO of CO:CUBED
According to Jeremy Basset, big companies and startups still have big communication problems, despite growing collaboration among players of all sizes across the food industry. In fact, most of the startups will need a helping hand if they want to make it among the big multinationals – although fragmentation of the industry is squeezing the largest players. On the other hand, even in a business environment now characterised by open innovation and numerous acquisitions, many corporations still struggle to engage constructively. As Basset said:
“There is still an elephant and mouse thing going on here. The language is still quite different, and the time frames are still massively different.” 2 That is to say that, a multinational may be able to take several months – or longer – to get a project off the ground, while that same time period could cause a major cash flow problem for a startup. Basset gave the example of the non-alcoholic beverages category as an area where the big players are struggling to engage. The sector has seen particularly strong growth in recent years – but most major soft drink companies remain outside the trend. Basset added:
“Most revenue
Startups investing in the future
growth is going to companies that were registered in the last ten years. This is happening across the food industry and it is happening across every category.” 2
Source: Future of Nutrition Summit 2019, Jeremy Basset is CEO of CO:CUBED, Presentation ‘Startup-powered disruptive innovation’
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