According to a report by Sopra Steria, Ipsos, and INSEAD, only 61% of UK corporations are currently engaged in collaboration projects with startups. Compared to the nearly three in four European corporations which are running these kinds of projects.

There has been an increase in collaboration between corporations and startups in the aftermath of the Covid-19 pandemic which saw mass changes in working habits and economic slowdown.

“The current economic context has reinforced the maturity of European companies in terms of Open Innovation – and the UK is bucking the trend when it comes to appetite to collaborate,” said John Neilson, CEO of Sopra Steria UK.

Despite the increase in collaboration seen in Europe, 50% of UK corporations say that legal and regulatory constraints are preventing them from entering partnerships, while 28% expressed confusion about who is responsible for collaboration projects within their organisation. This led to 31% of organisations saying they have no plans to collaborate with startups in the next 18 months. 

“With a high proportion of those surveyed suggesting they won’t be starting any new projects for the foreseeable future and the government’s ambitions to make the UK a technology superpower, corporations must be encouraged to do more to meet that challenge – and collaborating with others will be a critical element of this,” said Neilson.

He added: “Collaborating with innovative and disruptive startups is the only way to ensure the UK doesn’t fall behind when it comes to creativity in the sector and for businesses to continue to participate in what is becoming an increasingly competitive market.”

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The reasons for avoiding collaboration among organisations in the report are: lack of structure and processes for collaboration with startups (39%), inability to integrate the startup’s solution (39%), low-risk tolerance (36%), and lack of strategic focus from top management (33%).

“The research reveals that 81% of UK companies see the value in leveraging external knowledge and expertise, but a number of structural challenges are preventing them from doing so. If we can provide greater guidance on how collaboration can be initiated, we can go some way to beginning to solve some of the world’s biggest challenges” said Neilson.