Innovation is no longer just a buzzword — it’s a survival imperative.  

In a world where innovation is the lifeblood of economic growth and national security, the United States stands at a critical crossroads. The National Science Board's latest policy brief sounds an urgent alarm: It's time for a paradigm shift in how we approach science, technology, and innovation.  

According to the latest National Science Board report, the United States invested $806 billion in R&D in 2021, maintaining its position as the global leader. Yet, paradoxically, much of this groundbreaking research has yet to reach the market. This investment has led to a fundamental shift in the innovation ecosystem. Since 1980, we've witnessed a dramatic acceleration in business-funded R&D, with corporate investment now at an all-time high.

The Changing Landscape of Corporate Innovation  

The NSB brief, presented by Chair Darío Gil, also Senior Vice President and Director of Research at IBM, outlines a few fundamental changes that demand our immediate attention:

Key statistics highlight this transformation:

• In 2021, business R&D propelled U.S. R&D spending to 3.5% of GDP
• The business sector now funds 36% of basic research in the U.S.  
• This nearly matches the federal government's 40% share.  

This shift represents more than just numbers. Businesses have transitioned from being mere beneficiaries of investment to becoming primary drivers of innovation, creating a rich landscape of scientific breakthroughs and technological advancements.

However, a paradox exists: despite record investment, much groundbreaking research fails to reach the market. The path from laboratory discovery to market-ready innovation remains complex and challenging. The scale and depth of corporate R&D capabilities are immense, but translating this potential into commercial success requires a unique set of skills and approaches.

At Innventure, we've recognized this trend and the opportunity it presents. By collaborating with multinational corporations (MNCs), we're able to bring preexisting technologies to the market by leveraging their extensive R&D resources and market insights. This approach not only reduces the risk of failure but also accelerates the commercialization of groundbreaking innovations.

As both a scientist and entrepreneur, I've witnessed this disconnect firsthand — it's what drove us to create Innventure, a company at the forefront of radical collaboration between startups and MNCs, bridging the gap between corporate R&D and market success.

Innventure's Radical Collaboration Model

This is where strategic partnerships can play a crucial role. While government-funded innovation certainly has its place, it often lacks the critical component of a clearly defined market need.  

In contrast, the opportunities we select from our MNC partners come with a unique advantage: a deep understanding of strategic market needs. This insight stems from our partners' massive market databases, which contain a wealth of information that no individual entrepreneur could possibly replicate on their own. This extensive market knowledge is coupled with transformative technologies developed by our MNC partners.

Our approach leverages this powerful combination. We merge the robust market intelligence and technical research capabilities of large corporations with our team’s agility and focused commercialization expertise. This synergy allows us to accelerate the journey from scientific breakthrough to market impact in ways that neither traditional corporate structures nor standalone startups can match.

By tapping into this vast reservoir of market data and pairing it with cutting-edge technologies, we're able to identify and pursue opportunities that are not only innovative but also have a clear path to meeting established market needs. This data-driven approach significantly reduces the risk typically associated with bringing new technologies to market and increases the likelihood of commercial success.

At Innventure, we provide a fully integrated external commercialization pathway for corporate innovations. We transform promising technologies into market-leading businesses by taking full responsibility for the entire process, including all aspects of funding. This financial commitment is a key differentiator that appeals directly to our MNC partners, as it eliminates their capital risk while still allowing them to benefit from the innovation.  

The Adaptive Advantage

Our approach, which we call the "Adaptive Advantage," combines scientific rigor with entrepreneurial agility, enabling us to move swiftly from concept to market without burdening our MNC partners with additional financial obligations or operational complexities.

Here's how our radical collaboration model works:

1. Strategic Identification: We partner with MNCs to uncover high-potential opportunities—not just technologies but solutions that address strategic needs in the marketplace. These needs are identified through the MNCs' market data, indicating a strong potential for demand from the early stages of development.
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2. Market-Driven Validation: Our proprietary DownSelect® analysis, rooted in scientific principles, allows us to objectively evaluate a solution's disruptive potential within the context of real-world market dynamics.
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3. Entrepreneurial Execution: We deploy "corporate athletes"—versatile professionals who combine deep expertise in early-stage companies with broad business acumen—to lead each new venture, ensuring both technical excellence and commercial viability.
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4. Rapid Commercialization: By leveraging the MNC's existing infrastructure and our entrepreneurial know-how, we achieve market penetration far faster than traditional models allow.

What makes our collaboration truly radical is the complete handover of commercialization to Innventure. This significantly reduces risk for our MNC partners and allows them to focus on their core business while still benefiting from the innovation. We don't just identify promising technologies or provide advisory services — we take full responsibility for funding, building, and scaling new ventures around these innovations.

Case Studies: Radical Collaboration in Action

Our radical collaboration model has produced significant results across various industries.

Here are three examples: ‍

‍PureCycle Technologies

• Revolutionizing Plastic Packaging Recycling Partner: Procter & Gamble (P&G)  
• Innovation: Groundbreaking plastic recycling technology  
• Impact: Purifies post-consumer polypropylene waste into virgin-quality resin  
• Benefit to P&G: Enhanced market position and sustainability goals without vertical integration risks

AeroFlexx

• Reinventing Liquid Packaging Partner: P&G  
• Innovation: Flexible packaging technology  
• Impact: Reduces plastic use by 50-70%, curbside recyclable  
• Benefits: Lower environmental impact, cost savings, improved logistics

Accelsius

• Transforming Data Center Cooling Partner: Nokia Bell Labs  
• Innovation: Energy-efficient cooling solution  
• Impact: Reduces data center energy consumption by up to 50%  
• Benefit: Addresses growing environmental concerns in the tech industry

These cases demonstrate how we combine MNC market insights and innovations with our commercialization expertise to rapidly bring transformative solutions to market. Each Innventure company addresses critical market needs, showcasing a radical approach's potential to drive both economic and environmental progress.

Mitigating Risks, Maximizing Potential

Innovation inherently carries risks, but our unique collaboration model is designed to improve the odds of success. Traditional innovation models often struggle, with failure rates as high as 75% in the venture capital world, according to research published in the Harvard Business Review (Eisenmann, Harvard Business Review, 2021).  

Key Elements of Our Risk Mitigation Strategy:

• Market-Driven Approach: We leverage our MNC partners' extensive market data to identify ventures that address validated market needs, potentially reducing the risk of market rejection.
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• Closed Loop Model: Our MNC partners often become early customers, potentially providing market validation and initial revenue. This model aims to shorten time to market and reduce commercialization costs.
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• High-Growth Technology Focus: We work with technologies that have shown potential in our MNC partners' development processes, which may help reduce technical risks.
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• Financial Risk Absorption: Innventure bears the financial risk, allowing MNCs to potentially benefit from innovation without capital exposure.

Examples of Our Approach in Action:

• PureCycle Technologies: Reached a significant market valuation within six years of founding, showing rapid market acceptance and growth potential.
• AeroFlexx: Founded in 2018, continues to mark progress towards commercial-scale efficiency and production of bringing packaging innovations to market.
• Accelsius: Entered pilot testing with major data centers within 18 months of company formation, indicating promising early traction.

While our model has shown promising results, it's important to note that venture success is never guaranteed. Factors such as market shifts, regulatory changes, or unforeseen challenges can impact outcomes. Our approach is designed to identify and address potential obstacles early, aiming to improve the overall chances of success.

Mutual Benefit Value-Share:

Our model aims to create a win-win scenario:

• MNCs may gain: Market expansion opportunities, sustainability advancements, and innovation benefits without vertical integration risks.
• Innventure may gain: Access to potentially high-growth technologies and possible market validation.
• End customers may gain: Access to innovative, often more sustainable products and solutions.

By focusing on technologies with market potential, addressing known market needs, and aiming to secure early customers, we strive to reduce the time and cost typically associated with technology commercialization. This approach aims to mitigate market adoption risks and potentially accelerate the path to profitability for our ventures.

While we don't disclose specific success rates due to the evolving nature of our companies, our experiences suggest the potential of this model to create value and impact across various industries.

The Way Forward: Embracing Radical Collaboration

As NSB Chair Darío Gil aptly states, "Science and technology now have the same economic and geopolitical importance as trade or military alliances." In this new reality, radical collaboration isn't just an option—it's a necessity for survival and growth.

Our experience at Innventure has shown that collaboration doesn't dilute success; it multiplies it. By partnering with MNCs, we've helped bring innovative technologies to market efficiently based on data-driven decisions. This approach represents a fundamental rethinking of how innovation happens in the corporate world. It means looking beyond traditional R&D models and being open to new forms of partnership. The potential rewards are substantial: accelerated innovation, reduced risk, and the ability to tackle complex challenges that no single entity can solve alone.

Corporate leaders, the question for you is clear: Are you ready to unlock the full potential of your innovation pipeline? In an era of unprecedented technological change, the ability to adapt and innovate quickly is not just a competitive advantage —it's a necessity for survival.

The future belongs to those who can bridge the gap between cutting-edge research and market-ready solutions, who can balance short-term performance with long-term vision, and who have the courage to reimagine what's possible.

At Innventure, we're not just predicting this future — we're building it.

Ready to explore how radical collaboration can reshape your innovation strategy? Visit www.innventure.com or contact us at innovate@innventure.com to start the conversation.

‍Dr. John Scott is a co-founder and Member of the Executive Committee at Innventure. With a unique background bridging academia and entrepreneurship, Dr. Scott developed the DownSelect® Method, a cornerstone of Innventure's approach to vetting disruptive technologies. Dr. Scott's academic career includes roles at several prestigious institutions, including the Universities of Maryland, North Carolina, and Arizona, as well as NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center. He holds a Ph.D. in Physics and Astrophysics from the University of Arizona and has authored over 60 academic papers, bringing a wealth of scientific rigor and innovative thinking to the world of corporate venturing.

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