‍Large corporations from any sector and part of the world are trying hard to innovate and stay ahead of their competitors and the market curve. But how do they do this? As we have seen in previous blog posts, corporate innovation has many faces and there are tons of different ways to develop it.

Generally speaking, startups tend to go faster in the innovation race. Their agile and flexible way of working makes them the perfect company for innovation. On the other hand, large corporations also have some serious advantages when it comes to disruption. So, how can a big company take advantage of a startup in order to innovate? As years go by, we have seen examples of corporations acquiring startups, investing in them, or throwing startup scouting programs to increase their innovation efforts. But this isn’t the only way out. There is one solution that has been emerging and that can become the perfect innovation model for a large company — the startup-as-a-service model.

What is startup-as-a-service?

Startup-as-a-service is a business model that creates a startup for a determined client, normally a large corporation, and delivers the startup as the main service.

Instead of creating their own startup studio or acquiring an already founded startup, corporations can hire the services of a corporate venture studio, like Corporate Lab. In this case, the venture studio or venture builder can explore the pains and needs of the industry, detect new business opportunities, and research the market and its future response.

In other words, a large corporation can outsource the creation of the startup and get a small new business as a service that can be scaled later on.

Why is startup-as-a-service a great innovation option for large corporations?

Corporate venturing is one of the hottest trends for 2022, so start-up-as-a-service is equally hot. This model presents many advantages — these are some of them:

1. It saves time 

Building a startup at your own company usually means this is a several-years long project. Given that creating a new venture is not your main activity, your time needs to be shared with other projects, and you might arrive late to the party. 

Instead, hiring the services of a venture builder with a startup-as-a-service model means they employ all their time on building your startup. At Corporate Lab, we deliver our startups in 10 sprints of 4 weeks each. After this, you will receive a highly validated project — all there is left if scaling it. 

2. It saves money

Similarly to the previous advantage, going for a startup as a service ensures you won’t spend too much money. Compared to mergers and acquisitions (M&A) or to investing in a startup, you will be saving money and still take advantage of the new venture. Compared to building your own startup in house, you will be saving your human resources and making sure they focus on your main activity. 

3. It’s a more professional approach

A large corporation doesn’t have to be an expert on future business if they are good at what they are good at. Instead, leaving new-business building to a team of experts is a wiser idea. This means the new venture won’t interfere with your current business line, and the venture building team will do all the hard work for you — detect ideas, test prototypes, research the market and trends, elaborate a marketing campaign, and so on. 

Large companies don’t have to stay behind the innovation race. If you too are interested in a startup-as-a-service model, contact the Corporate Lab team, and let’s discuss new business opportunities for your company.