Electrolux
The challenge
Electrolux is considered one of the most advanced corporations in the open innovation space, having defined and implemented a very systematic and methodological approach to open innovation which helps to fuel the growth of the organization.
As the organization identifies its strategic business areas, Electrolux’s Open Innovation team continuously engages with an external and global network of innovation brokers, which help the company source the most innovative products and services to integrate into its portfolio. Tapping into this external network allows Electrolux to progress their innovation initiatives and accelerate its pace of innovation.
The solution
Skipso was chosen as one of Electrolux’s preferred innovation brokers given its strong reputation as a pioneer in open innovation/technology scouting space. Over a four year period Skipso ran multiple innovation projects for the company. Skipso's provided Electrolux with a dedicated technology scouting platform, a completely branded public facing website where the organization could run their open innovation initiatives. Through the platform, interested parties, including startups and innovators, could easily submit their innovation proposals. The platform also offered a private admin section, where the Electrolux team could easily evaluate all submissions.
Another valuable offer the Skipso team provided to Electrolux was its Market Outreach service. Leveraging its global innovative network of startups, innovators, incubators and research institutes, and utilizing its proven outreach methodology, Skipso's outreach team was able to effectively promote Electrolux’s open calls to the highly targeted body of entities, while simultaneously supporting the end-to-end submission process.
The results
The outcome of the partnership between Electrolux and Skipso was an incredibly successful venture. During the market outreach phase of the program over 1000 startups were approached to participate in open call initiatives. Direct contact was also made with a number of several other important entities, including: associations, universities, incubators, clusters/research centers, online groups and individual experts.
Over 100 submissions were made via the platform, with submissions made from 14 different countries in 7 different product categories. 10% of platform submissions proceeded through Electrolux’s innovation funnel.
Skipso proved to be an incredibly important partner, which helped to propel Electolux’s open innovation initiatives.
