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Startup and enterprise collaborations seem as natural as a shark befriending a goldfish – unlikely to say the least. The small startup seeks to take a bite out of the sharks market share while the shark has every intent on bearing its teeth and defending its turf.
Despite the unlikelihood of a collaboration, more and more enterprises and startups are partnering, proving to us that sometimes opposites really do attract.
Collaborations in FinTech: Stripe + PayWorks
FinTech startups are seeing large collaborations with enterprises to take the financial industry to the next level. One of the interesting partnerships is that of PayWorks, the Point of Sale payment processing gateway technology with global payment processor, Stripe. While torn between the startup and enterprise world, Stripe is proving that new big businesses are tech-first and innovation driven.
The unique partnership will let merchants in the United States, France and Finland accept in-person contact less credit card payments, increasing PayWork’s reach into the point-of-sale market and letting Stripe venture into a new vertical.
Collaborations in Self Driving Cars: Uber + Volvo
In the race for self-driving automobiles, car manufacturers are seeking collaborations with innovative startups in order to try and beat their
competitors to the punch and get self-driving cars to the masses.
Uber, showing a heavy investment in the enterprise business side (and an innate desire to continually disrupt the market) and not wanting to get left behind the self-driving car craze has partnered with Volvo in a $300 million partnership that aims to bring smart cars to end users.
Collaborations in Healthcare: Zipline+ Rwanda
The country of Rwanda has partnered with startup, Zipline, to see if healthcare to all is truly possible – even when ground conditions make it seem impossible.
The lack of infrastructure and inadequate medical systems in place in the country make it complicated for healthcare workers. With Zipline in place, healthcare workers are able to send an SMS with specifications of the life saving items they need, and the Zip drones are instantly dispatched – eliminating the need for roads and the obstacle of uneven terrain.
With funding exceeding $85 million, Zipline is gaining a great deal of traction. The commercial drone delivery service ventured into the healthcare vertical and effectively became the first startup drone delivery service to strike a deal with the government of Rwanda.
Collaborations in Mobile Advertising: Cheetah Mobile + Kiip
As technology rapidly changes and digital advertising is transformed with each new innovation, mobile brands recognize the need to re imagine advertising.
This year, digital ad spending is expected to exceed traditional television spending, and mobile ad spending is expected to reach $52.76 billion in 2017. Enterprises are looking to improve their ability to target consumers – especially on mobile devices.
Based on this simple fact, it’s no wonder that Kiip, the “moment advertiser” that takes ad networks to a new level, partnered with Cheetah Mobile to provide hyper targeted and location based ads to users of their most popular mobile apps.
The Future of the Startup-Enterprise Collaboration
In the dynamic world we live in, collaborations can only bring good news to enterprises and startups as they are truly win-win situations for both parties. The more enterprises seek to improve customer experience for their clients, and the quicker startups creatively conceive solutions, the more likely collaborations will be to occur.
As we already mentioned, more and more startups are leaning towards collaborations with enterprises in the hopes of acquisition, making their desire and ability to test their solutions with enterprises easier and more seamless. The real issue that remains is finding the right enterprise or startup to collaborate with, but you already know that prooV solves that for you!
