According to a survey by Bitkom Research More than two-thirds of established companies do not work with startups. One of the reasons for this is a lack of time.
The representative of the German economy as a whole study was from Bitkom, Germany's digital association. The association represents more than 2,600 companies in the digital economy, including over 500 startups. The association's goal is to advance the digitalization of business, society, and administration. The study surveyed over 600 companies with more than 20 employees from all sectors.
Established companies prefer partnerships with traditional companies
The surprising result of the study: 67 percent of companies do not work with startups. Furthermore, 73 percent of the managers surveyed are not even in contact with young companies. Instead, 63 percent of the managing directors rely on collaboration with IT specialists or on cooperation with established companies from their own industry or non-digital sectors (37 percent). This is despite the fact that startups in particular can offer significant added value for the further development of established companies. Bitkom President Achim Berg on this:
"Startups are not only particularly innovative, they also breathe fresh air into entrenched structures and processes. For established companies, startups can provide decisive impetus for the development of new digital business models – across all industries."
Digital transformation is very challenging for many companies. Achim Berg comments:
“This makes cooperation and partnerships between young and established companies all the more important so that German and European companies remain leaders on the global market.”
Reasons for the lack of cooperation
However, many managing directors perceive startups as dangerous competition. 27 percent see their market position threatened by emerging companies. In 2017, only 18 percent expressed this concern. Furthermore, 59 percent of managing directors simply see no added value in collaborating with startups. 56 percent state they have no concrete project for a collaboration. Two years ago, only 39 percent cited this reason. Other reasons, according to the study, include a lack of contacts (73 percent) and a lack of financial resources (24 percent). Half of the managers surveyed also cited a lack of time as a reason for not collaborating with young companies. Berg assesses this as follows:
“Anyone who doesn’t have time to work with startups obviously doesn’t have time for the future of their company.”
