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27pilots
Boost your competitiveness with top Startups through state-of-the-art Venture Client Solutions
We help leading corporations solve their most pressing strategic challenges by enabling them to identify, buy and implement solutions from top global startups. We do this by setting up a dedicated inhouse Venture Client Unit. The unit is enabled by our suite of dedicated solutions – services, technology and data to build, improve and grow internal Venture Client capabilities. As a result, top startup technologies can be implemented across the entire value chain, generating cost savings and top-line growth, building competitive advantage, effectively at zero capital at risk.
Why startups?
Startups are the competitive resource of the future. Fueled annually by more than $600bn in venture capital (Bloomberg, 2022), equipped with protected intellectual property and highly specialized talent, startups create technological breakthroughs faster and better than any company can with its own resources. However, finding, buying, validating, and adopting solutions that make a strategic impact from top startups at scale is complex. It is challenging for companies to establish the competencies required to benefit strategically from the global startup ecosystem. Companies without an effective corporate venturing vehicle are missing out on an ever more critical source of competitive advantage.
Why Venture Clienting?
Traditional corporate venturing vehicles, such as corporate venture capital (CVC) and accelerators, have inherent systemic weaknesses that limit their ability to harness the strategic benefit effectively. In addition, these vehicles entail substantial capital risk and require committing tens, even hundreds of millions to be able to play in the league for top startups (Harvard Business Review, 2017). Venture Clienting is the emerging corporate venturing vehicle that has proven able to help companies benefit quickly and effectively from the best startups.
Why 27pilots?
The original, proven and leading Venture Client Model
The 27pilots Venture Client Model, conceived by our founder, Gregor Gimmy, in 2014 during his tenure at BMW, has demonstrated its ability to generate substantial impact across multiple corporations. Since the inception of 27pilots as the premier Venture Client Solutions provider in 2018, we have continually refined and enhanced the model. It has been successfully implemented at over 20 corporations (e.g. Holcim, Siemens, Bosch) spanning more than 10 diverse industries, including financial services, aerospace, consumer, health and the public sector. Today, 27pilots stands as the undisputed market leader, deeply integrated into the startup ecosystem, and recognized as the trusted partner for corporations in EURO STOXX 50, DAX, SMI, and beyond.
We offer a proven suite of services, cutting-edge technology and a unique dataset to build and run Venture Client Units. Our Solution represents the market's most comprehensive end-to-end offering. We support our clients throughout their entire Venture Client Journey towards Venture Client excellence:
Venture Client capability assessment: We focus on analyzing your existing capabilities, structures and activities that are designed to profit from startups, against the backdrop of your strategic priorities. Together we identify strengths and weaknesses and assess how our Venture Client Solutions can support you in achieving your strategic objectives more effectively. Furthermore, we identify the specific segments within the startup ecosystem that deserve your focused attention. Depending on the outcome of this stage we come to a shared decision on the most appropriate stage from which to continue your venture client journey. There are three possible stages, as described below.
Seed stage: We aim at delivering value fast, showcasing the impact a Venture Client Unit can achieve for your organization. We run several projects, solving some of your strategic challenges by identifying, buying and implementing selected technologies from leading global startups, without the need for a fully-fledged Venture Client Unit.
Foundation stage: We focus on building scalable structures with the required deep strategic, cultural data and technological capabilities as the foundation for operating a world-class Venture Client Unit. Meanwhile we increase the strategic benefit achieved by expanding the number of critical business problems solved through top start-up solutions.
Growth stage: We focus on further enhancing the strategic impact of startups for your entire organization. We set up the Unit for you so that it can be run independently in-house while giving you the option to tailor the involvement and support of 27pilots to your needs over the long run.
Build the strategic, cultural, structural, data and technological capabilities to operate world-class Venture Client Units.
A Define Strategy and Structure: Gain a competitive advantage from top global startups by setting up a dedicated Venture Client Unit and building the strategic and structural capabilities to adopt solutions from top startups at scale.
B Establish a Startup Adoption Culture: Create a culture that recognizes the strategic relevance of startups across your organization. Build trust for the Venture Client Unit, both inside your organization and within the global startup ecosystem.
C Leverage Technology: Introduce our "native" Venture Client software solution designed with precision for Venture Client Units. The proprietary cloud-based Venture Client Platform serves as the ultimate support system for every facet of operating the Venture Client process. From the initial stages of problem identification to the scouting of startups, managing adoption projects, and gauging the strategic impact achieved through collaborations and M&A with top startups. Data plays a pivotal role in the success of Venture Clienting. 27pilots has exclusive insights into the technology solutions offered by startups that align best with strategic corporate challenges. We annually evaluate and validate the technologies of thousands of startups in real use-case settings.
Operate Use the established capabilities to build a competitive advantage – startup solution by startup solution.
- Discover critical business challenges: Work with management and business owners to identify strategic high priority problems that are best solved by startup solutions.
- Discover relevant top startups: Leverage our extensive network and proprietary systems for startup identification and risk reduction via commercial and tech due diligence.
- Pilot and adopt solution: Conduct “minimal viable purchase” to test a pilot with the business, adopt and scale usage of the startup solution.
- Track value creation: Measure value created by the startup solution through proprietary systems and provide transparency to leadership.
- Support acquisition: Evaluate whether exclusive ownership of IP is desirable and support with the potential acquisition.
Technology Fast 50 Award and Venture Client Awards 2023
Our Fast 50 competition for the fastest-growing technology companies and start-ups can be found on the Technology Fast 50 Award overview page. As a gateway for entrepreneurs, the award offers winners access to cooperations, capital and customers.
The Venture Client Awards, presented by 27pilots, celebrate outstanding collaborations between startups and corporations. These awards recognize the innovative use of startup solutions to tackle corporate challenges effectively. Recognized are projects that have exhibited substantial financial and sustainable impact through their engagement with startups.
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