Everything in life sparks from ideas. From the entrepreneur having a Eureka! moment while having a shower, to the senior innovation manager implementing a change management program. The very moment an idea crosses your mind, you are the only or first person in the world to have it — or so you think, because dozens of others will have had it before you. No idea is really, completely new, as the result of collective, incremental thinking.
There is a theory on this effect: the Multiple Discovery concept, also referred to as Simultaneous Invention, assuming that most ideas, discoveries and inventions…
Presse-Citron, May 10th 2021
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C’est un amorçage de grande ampleur qui surligne le plein potentiel de cette startup belge. Novable vient de lever 600 000 euros grâce à une idée qui ne devrait pas tarder à faire naître un nouveau marché : une IA pour analyser l’ensemble des jeunes startups et trouver la future pépite du lot. « C’est un marché naissant et fragmenté, où l’on a encore un rôle d’évangéliste » disait Laurent Kinet, son fondateur et CEO.
Les jeunes pousses à la croissance sérieuse ne sont pas aussi simples à trouver et jusqu’à présent la compétence en…
In L’Echo, May 6th, 2021
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Les grandes entreprises lorgnent de plus en plus du côté des start-ups, dans l’espoir de dénicher dans leur population celles qui développent des projets ou des activités innovants. Objectif, les racheter ou en faire des partenaires pour doper leur propre croissance… Problème, pour les repérer, il faut analyser des tonnes de dossiers. C’est là qu’intervient Novable, une start-up bruxelloise qui a précisément mis au point une solution pour “scouter” les jeunes pousses les plus pertinentes. […] Novable a développé une plateforme mêlant intelligence artificielle et traitement automatique de texte. Celle-ci est à même de passer au crible les start-ups reprises dans sa base de données et de distinguer parmi elles celles qui se rapprochent le plus de critères de recherche définis par chaque client.
Read full article (in French)
La Libre, May 4th, 2021
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La start-up, basée à Bruxelles, a développé un moteur de recherche de start-up technologiques innovantes alimenté par des algorithmes d’intelligence artificielle (IA). La technologie, baptisée “DeepMatching”, se compose à la fois de traitement automatique du langage et d’apprentissage automatique. “Nos algorithmes sont capables de comprendre un briefing stratégique rédigé par une entreprise et d’identifier, en quelques secondes, les start-up les plus pertinentes au regard de ce briefing”, précise Laurent Kinet. …
The Energy industry is one of the most affected by the need for innovation. Environmental issues are at the heart of social and political debate, and Energy companies are at the forefront of the global fight against climate change.
It is therefore no surprise that 6 out of 17 United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) are related to the environment:
As a result, innovation initiatives around energy in the broadest sense are bubbling up everywhere, and are gaining visibility. Several governmental and non-governmental organisations are trying to structure this burgeoning field. Among them, the SolarImpulse Foundation deserves a closer look…
It has become commonplace to say that artificial intelligence is moving into all areas of human activity. Yet, there is one area where this siege is still in its infancy: Corporate Venturing. The benefits are however undeniable. Let’s go through them quickly.
Corporate Venturing and innovation go hand in hand
Let’s set the scene first. Corporate venturing is not new — dates back to the eighties. In recent years, the topic has been gaining ground within large companies and corporations, as evidenced by the many initiatives flourishing in many groups (CVC funds, corporate incubators, hackathons, innovation labs, etc.). This shows that external innovation is not an option anymore…
An article written for Sifted (the Financial Times-back online news about Startups in Europe) by Novable.
Excerpt:
If European middle-market businesses entered the startup arena with strength, determination and high innovation expectations, our startup ecosystems might well become the ultimate weapon to get a voice in the geo-strategic economic battle.
Read the full article on the Sifted website.
SuperbCrew — 5 December 2020 (in English)
Excerpt:
We consider that a startup, or an innovation cluster, is not an isolated, standalone entity. Behind the startup name, you have founders, employees, real persons that interact with an environment: a technology, a business model, customers, partners, investors, stakeholders. Their activity is described on their website, on social media, in patents, in Linkedin profiles. They are living nodes.
Read full article (in English)
On why and how are innovation analysts slowly killing themselves on repetitive tasks — What can we do about that? — A glimmer of hope.
For a corporate venturing professional (in M&A, corporate development or CVC, or a head of innovation), most of the effort is focused on disqualifying bad startup candidates. As with VCs, less than 1% of applicants (or potential matches) will end up with an engagement option.
We call it the SAD syndrome, as a three-step fatalism: Spot — Analyse — Drop. Thousands of hours wasted in vain. Too bad. SAD. Spot. Analyse. Drop. Repeat.
Traditional innovation scouting (yes, it’s an oxymoron)
Is there a problem with corporate venturing today? Oh no. Corporate venturing is good, as well as being necessary for our world’s evolution and for the resolution of massive issues. As a critical step in the innovation lifecycle, collaboration between small agile innovators and giant industrial strengths is the nuclear fusion that can spark a new life. In fact, the problem is how those industrial strengths scout for innovations.
Think about it. …
Laurent Kinet
Entrepreneur / Investor / Technology / Writer
