Is the “Unicorn” dream healthy?

/0 Comments/in , /by

unicornnnn

An obsession for the “rare” billion dollar startups, is becoming challenging for entrepreneurship, observes Michael Eisenberg of Aleph Ventures.

The term Unicorn was coined to describe a rare big opportunity that can be identified with this rare and mythical creature. Since its conception, the term Unicorns – innovative startups with a billion dollar valuation – have caught on as a trend and investors are looking for “the next big idea” in every investment prospect. However, the best big businesses were not created out of a financial pursuit, but to solve a core need, notes Eisenberg. Supporting innovative ideas may not necessarily create billion dollar companies, but trying to find mythical valuation in every innovation would certainly discourage many good innovations.

Read more here.

Increased interest in Open Innovation from blue chip companies

/0 Comments/in , /by

Innovation is a key driver for business success and Nordic blue chip companies are focusing more and more on the importance of Open Innovation along with its upsides.

This became even more clear when ETEQ Venture hosted The Nordic Cleantech Innovation Day 2015. Experts argue that no company, no matter how big, could innovate effectively on its own. They also add that sustainable innovation involves more external relations with unfamiliar sources of knowledge, hence Open Innovation is more pertinent to sustainable innovation than to ”normal” innovation.

The main objective of the conference was to link high-growth technology members with dominant blue chip companies and demonstrate the importance of open innovation.

The Industry Partners were indeed positive and discovered interesting technology as well as new approaches to dealing with Open Innovation during the conference.

Arla Food is one of the Industry Partners of Nordic Cleantec Innovation Link, and Harry Barraza, Head of Open Innovation at Arla was one of the panelists at the conference. He spoke of the benefits of Open Innovation – not least in blue chip companies like Arla.

 

Click here to watch Harry Barraza talk on Open Innovation.