Corporate venturing rarely fails because of the startup

Guest Column by Justin Gemeri - Germany is home to around 23,000 startups. For companies seeking a suitable solution, this is less a problem of supply than one of orientation. Fifty-nine percent of established companies struggle to find the right partner within the ecosystem. This is shown by the report “Collaborate to Innovate 2025” from the Startup Association and Accenture.

However, the same study also shows that finding a partner isn’t where the problem lies. Of all collaboration projects, 41 percent are still successful at the initiation stage. That figure drops to 27 percent at the proof-of-concept stage and 17 percent during implementation. Only eight percent make it to the scaling stage. The breakdown occurs after the match is made, during the transition from testing to full-scale operation.

What the Venture Client Incubator Does

The Venture Client Incubator Hessen, a program funded by the Hessian Ministry of Economics that supports ekipa GmbH . Companies define specific areas of interest; ekipa handles the scouting and manages the collaboration through to a joint proof of concept. Public co-financing keeps the barrier to entry low.

Boehringer Ingelheim participated in the program in 2024–2025. The pharmaceutical company was looking for solutions in the maintenance and engineering sectors—areas where the reliability of technical systems is critical. The search areas ranged from digital twins for building and maintenance processes to AI-supported data analysis and digital showrooms. The startups brAIniacs and pickablue emerged as finalists. brAIniacs analyzes sensor and log data to identify patterns and automate data processing in deviation management. The company would not have easily come across such solutions through its usual channels.

Maren Göpfert, Global Head of Maintenance and Engineering Systems at Boehringer Ingelheim, describes this benefit in the program’s recap video.

We got to know startups that we probably wouldn’t have come across otherwise. That’s why this collaboration with ekipa and the program has been so important to us.

Maren Göpfert, Global Head of Maintenance and Engineering Systems at Boehringer Ingelheim

The turning point comes after the proof of concept

Once the right startups are sitting down with the company, the difficult part begins. Two internal questions determine whether the collaboration moves forward, and neither of them concerns the startup.

The first is data access. A startup can only validate its solution if it works with the company’s data. In regulated industries, granting access to this data is not a mere formality. It goes through compliance reviews, risk assessments, and internal approval processes. As a result, a pilot project that’s ready to go often sits idle for weeks before it launches.

The second question is who takes responsibility after the pilot. A successful proof of concept demonstrates that a solution works. It does not clarify who will transition it into regular operation. Without a unit mandated to move the solution beyond the pilot phase, it remains a successful experiment with no follow-through. Here, success rates drop from 27 to 8 percent.

Finding the right innovator can be outsourced or developed with a partner. Internal preparation, however, cannot be outsourced. Deciding who grants data access and who takes over the solution after the pilot must happen before the first pilot begins, not afterward. That is where it is determined whether a successful test will ultimately be among the eight percent that make it into regular operation.

Justin Gemeri is Co-CEO and co-founder of ekipa GmbH. As an external venturing unit, ekipa implements corporate venturing projects between established companies and startups.