The global investment in deep-tech start-ups increased form $15 billion in 2016 to $60 billion in 2020. Japan, South Korea, mainland China, Singapore, Hong Kong and Thailand are the East and Southeast regions with the highest adoption rate of corporate venturing.
Hong Kong, May 31, 2021 /AlexaBlockchain/ – Accroding to a report by IESE Business School, the global investment in deep-tech start-ups has quadrupled in the last five years: from $15 billion in 2016 to $60 billion in 2020.
A new report titled “Open Innovation: How Corporate Giants Can Better Collaborate with Deep-Tech Start-ups. The Case of East and Southeast Asia, also finds that the largest companies in East and Southeast Asia are stepping up their collaborations with start-ups at the cutting edge of technology.
What is Deep Tech?
The report finds that the term deep tech (or deep technology) is widely prevalent in industry and government, but limited in its definition in the literature. It encompasses multiple and ambiguous characterizations from academics and practitioners.
“Deep tech refers to emerging technologies based on scientific discoveries or engineering innovations, seeking to tackle some of the world’s fundamental challenges–encompassing work in expanding fields such as artificial intelligence, biotechnology, blockchain, robotics, and quantum computing,” co-authors Josemaria Siota and Prof. Julia Prats explain in the report.
Report Highlights
- 77 innovation leaders took part in this study revealing their biggest challenges innovating with deep-tech start-ups.
- Japan, South Korea, mainland China, Singapore, Hong Kong and Thailand are the East and Southeast regions with the highest adoption rate of corporate venturing.
- 71% of analyzed companies expect to increase their collaboration with deep-tech start-ups during the next 5 years.
Key Findings of the Report
- Among the analyzed companies, corporate venturing – the practice of established companies innovating with start-ups – has increased 2.8 times in the past five years, while deep-tech cooperation has gone up 4.2 times.
- This growth puts East and Southeast Asia ahead of Latin America but still behind the United States in terms of corporate–start-up innovations among corporate giants.
- On average, East and Southeast Asia have a 57% adoption rate of corporate venturing, compared to Latin America with 40% and the United States with 90%.
- Based on 77 interviews, the study identifies seven areas that keep chief innovation officers up at night, ranging from technology evaluation, corporate short-term view over deep-tech start-ups, silos between R&D and corporate venturing teams, regulation, to top-down innovation approach.