Article: Start-up selection criteria for corporate venturing: what matters for incumbents? Journal: International Journal of Entrepreneurial Venturing (IJEV) 2023 Vol.15 No.4 pp.381 - 408 Abstract: Incumbent companies face increasing pressures to become more sustainable, and thus, to strategically renew themselves. To proactively adjust to the changing environment, incumbents can engage in collaborations with start-ups by means of corporate venturing. As one of the first steps of the venturing process, a better understanding of the selection of start-ups for corporate venturing activities is needed to further systemise and align the activities. Through a systematic literature review, this study provides an overview of existing start-up selection criteria, which are validated by means of expert interviews with incumbents. We find that for incumbents, criteria related to the team, the product and technology, the market as well as to financial and strategic characteristics are pivotal whereas criteria related to transitions seem to play a subordinated role. Our findings highlight the necessity of a coherent and aligned venturing strategy to foster the successful renewal of incumbents in eras of transition. Inderscience Publishers - linking academia, business and industry through research

Title: Start-up selection criteria for corporate venturing: what matters for incumbents?

Authors: Lucia Brandt; Natalie Laibach; Carolin Kamrath; Stefanie Bröring

Addresses: Centre for Entrepreneurship, Innovation and Transformation (CEIT), Ruhr University Bochum, Suttner-Nobel-Allee 4, 44803 Bochum, Germany ' Centre for Research in Agricultural Genomics (CRAG), Carrer de la Vall Moronta, 08193 Barcelona, Spain ' Institute for Food and Resource Economics (ILR), University of Bonn, Meckenheimer Allee 174, 53115 Bonn, Germany ' Centre for Entrepreneurship, Innovation and Transformation (CEIT), Ruhr University Bochum, Suttner-Nobel-Allee 4, 44803 Bochum, Germany

Abstract: Incumbent companies face increasing pressures to become more sustainable, and thus, to strategically renew themselves. To proactively adjust to the changing environment, incumbents can engage in collaborations with start-ups by means of corporate venturing. As one of the first steps of the venturing process, a better understanding of the selection of start-ups for corporate venturing activities is needed to further systemise and align the activities. Through a systematic literature review, this study provides an overview of existing start-up selection criteria, which are validated by means of expert interviews with incumbents. We find that for incumbents, criteria related to the team, the product and technology, the market as well as to financial and strategic characteristics are pivotal whereas criteria related to transitions seem to play a subordinated role. Our findings highlight the necessity of a coherent and aligned venturing strategy to foster the successful renewal of incumbents in eras of transition.

Keywords: incumbents; start-ups; strategic renewal; corporate venturing; systematic literature review; expert interviews; transitions.

DOI: 10.1504/IJEV.2023.133464

International Journal of Entrepreneurial Venturing, 2023 Vol.15 No.4, pp.381 - 408

Received: 18 May 2022
Accepted: 12 Jun 2023
Published online: 15 Sep 2023 *

Title: Start-up selection criteria for corporate venturing: what matters for incumbents?

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