Saipem signed three new open innovation agreements for development projects in the energy and infrastructure sectors. Focus on startups in EU, North America and Israel.
The first agreement was signed between Saipem and Aster Fab, the innovation consulting arm of the Global Venture Capital Investor Aster, through its Italian partner company TRG.
Saipem and Aster Fab - TRG teams have jointly developed a methodology to effectively and quickly identify hundreds of startups specialized in verticals like energy storage, blockchain or water treatment, with the aim to select the most promising ones to collaborate with.
Saipem will make its skills available for the assessment of the most promising technologies, while Aster Fab - TRG will leverage Aster skills and experience in venture capital investments to assess the validity of the value proposition, governance, quality of the team and growth potential with the aim of identifying the most appropriate potential collaboration model.
The second agreement was signed between Saipem and Mind the Bridge, a global innovation consultancy specialized in the development of a global entrepreneurial ecosystem that brings together startups and corporate companies.
Thanks to the partnership with Mind the Bridge, Saipem joined the open innovation platform of Startup Europe Partnership (SEP), the first pan-European platform, established by the European Commission in January 2014 during the World Economic Forum in Davos, dedicated to transforming European startups into scaleup companies by connecting them to global corporations and financial markets. Saipem identified specific areas of interest: decarbonisation, clean technology, digital construction and asset management.
Finally, Saipem signed an agreement with the Politecnico di Milano to join the Startup Intelligence Observatory, an innovative research project that proposes a rich annual calendar of activities including research, scouting, awareness and cultural comparison on issues of open innovation and culture of innovation, with the direct involvement of the various members of the organization.
Through participation in the Observatory's initiatives, Saipem gained access to a powerful intelligence tool on technological and industrial trends, multiplying collaboration opportunities, particularly in the Italian ecosystem, with selected start-ups on specific topics such as virtual and augmented reality, circular economy, cyber security.
Tomashpolskyy Kostya, Head of the Saipem Innovation Factory commented: “Open innovation is one of the strategic tools enabling Saipem's mission to offer innovative solutions for extraordinary projects. In particular, the new agreements signed with main operators of open innovation broaden our analysis horizon and increase the speed with which we move towards the future. Innovation has always been one of Saipem's strategic pillars and our active presence in the world of startups is the inevitable step to explore “unchartered territories” of disruptive ideas, technologies and business models”.