There is a world of innovation happening outside your organisation. This is especially true for deep tech, where up-and-coming innovators are breaking new ground at speeds never before seen.
Consequently, big companies are increasingly turning to small, agile companies to augment their offerings with cutting-edge technology and new capabilities. The approach has even filtered through to government departments, putting greater emphasis on consortium bidding in public procurement programmes.
Success is about finding pioneering startups and visionary academic labs to partner with before your competitors snap them up. However, as an organisation seeking to co-develop capabilities, enlist specialists, or launch a joint venture – how do you quickly identify the best partner for the job?
"We need to shed light on things we haven’t seen, people we haven’t met, and ideas that will change the game for us."
— Head of Industrial R&D Partnerships
Meeting Your Match in the Deep Tech World
Investment in deep tech has surged two-fold in the past decade, claiming a 20% share of all venture capital today. There is certainly no shortage of startups, ideas, or innovations. In fact, there are so many that sourcing the right players, products and capabilities can be a painstaking process – compounded by the following factors:
- Hidden solutions: There may be perfect solutions to your challenges sitting in research labs or startups that haven’t yet made headlines.
- Specificity and complexity: Your project might have such a unique or complex requirement that traditional search methods or subscription tech databases simply won’t surface the right partners.
- Information overload: Automated searches often prioritise the most hyped or highly-funded projects, which may not be the best fit for your particular needs.
A Smarter Approach to Technology Scouting
Matching suitably-qualified personnel to deep tech requirements demands expertise in its own right. Outsmart Insight's Ecosystem Scouting service does not pull from a limited pool of contacts, or provide masses of raw contact data for you to manually evaluate. It calls on subject matter experts to source leads from SMEs and academia, and qualify them for fit. Here’s how it works:
- Network of Experts: We draw on our network of thousands of domain specialists and deep tech experts to generate a map of the key players within the external innovation ecosystem and what they are doing.
- Targeted Primary Research: Primary research performed by our deep tech experts narrows the initial longlist to a shortlist of best-fit partners.
- Deep Dive Analysis: We interview key players from your shortlist, perform deep analysis to identify the best matches, and provide you with detailed company or university lab profiles.
With this model, we ensure that your collaborator isn’t just the best you could find, but the best fit available globally.
Case Study: English Institute of Sport (EIS)
As part of their preparation for the hot and humid conditions of the Tokyo Olympics, the Performance Innovation team at the English Institute of Sport (EIS) needed cutting-edge cooling technologies to help their athletes. While EIS was confident in their sports science expertise, they wanted to make sure they didn’t miss out on innovations from other industries.
Our Outsmart Insight scouting team identified over 150 relevant cooling technologies from sectors outside the traditional sports industry. After a careful process of analysis and refinement, we narrowed the field to 20 high-priority innovations.
The Performance Innovation team identified potential partners with which to co-develop solutions that could give their athletes a competitive edge.
Tech Scouting for your organisation
Whether you are looking to explore new materials, advanced AI, or the next breakthrough in biotech, our next-generation technology scouting model can help. We specialise in sourcing, vetting, and connecting you with the right partners across startups, industry, and academia.
- Micro consultations with domain experts.
- Technical due diligence for high-risk projects.
- Bespoke strategic advice tailored to your innovation needs.
Our goal is to give you the edge by finding collaborators that align with your specific requirements — before your competition does.
Ready to Start Scouting?
If you want to learn how technology scouting can open doors to breakthrough innovations for your organisation, get in touch. Our team is ready to help you navigate the deep tech ecosystem and find the partners that will help your organisation gain a competitive edge.
