Plug and Play: Matching Corporates with Start-ups to Accelerate Open Innovation

Plug and Play, a Silicon Valley-based investor in start-ups including PayPal and Dropbox, introduces a match-making model to engage corporates with start-ups. The case discusses the rationale behind the model and the challenges involved in simultaneously facilitating start-up development and corporate entrepreneurship. It looks at the expansion of the model beyond the US and describes how its match-making efforts fared in France and Italy.

To understand why and how established firms are opening up to external innovation, and the challenges associated with partnering with start-ups.The case can be used for MBA, executive MBA, undergraduate courses and executive programmes on Corporate Entrepreneurship, Corporate Strategy, Open Innovation, and Platforms.