Startup Thinking

Startup Thinking is an innovative Research, Scouting, and Community project for Innovation Managers and professionals involved in digital innovation within companies. The project aims to help businesses build their own innovation model and spread the Open Innovation and Corporate Entrepreneurship culture.

Goals

Activities

Work Group

Objectives of the Observatory

Startup Thinking is the Observatory for Innovation Managers and professionals responsible for digital innovation within companies.

Established in 2014, Startup Thinking helps businesses shape their innovation strategy, spread the culture of Open Innovation, and strengthen Corporate Entrepreneurship within the organization through engagement with the startup ecosystem and the innovator community.
The Startup Thinking Observatory offers a comprehensive annual program of research, startup scouting, discussions, and cultural and methodological insights into the processes and organizational models that support digital innovation.

The Startup Thinking project is built around the following objectives:

Research| Provide timely data and insights on technological and business innovation to help companies identify emerging trends early
Scouting| Support startup scouting by identifying potential solution providers, innovative business partners, and early signals of future trends
Thinking & Culture| Promote an entrepreneurial mindset and strengthen internal capabilities to evolve company culture, roles, and skills
Community| Foster dialogue among Innovation Managers to encourage the exchange of experiences and expertise
Visibility| Highlight companies committed to open innovation, also helping generate broader momentum across the ecosystem.

Startup Thinking, Observatory Research

The Startup Thinking Observatory will restart in October 2026 and will be structured around a calendar of two types of events: Tech Scenario and startup scouting workshops, and methodology labs.

Tech Scenario and startup scouting focus areas:

Smart Infrastructure – AI, IoT, Data and Digital Twin
Worker’s Safety & Wellbeing: from a reactive to a proactive approach
AI for Marketing
Asset tokenization: emerging use cases across industries
AI & Decision Intelligence – Synthetic Data
Cybersecurity

Methodology Lab focus areas:

Innovation Measurement
AI Fluency Lab: presentations as a testing ground for artificial intelligence
Innovation meets AI
Evaluating and Validating Ideas and Startups

The program also includes the public conference, the Exchange Forum, and the Discovery Session days.

It may also be supplemented with optional activities, depending on partners’ preferences.

Become a supporter of the Startup Thinking Observatory

The Startup Thinking Observatory is supported by multiple industry sector companies operating as partners. Join the Observatory research, gain visibility through our events, network with companies and qualified professionals, and get early access to exclusive Observatory data.

For further information, please contact Eliana Bentivegna at: eliana.bentivegna@polimi.it

Activities

Startup Thinking, Observatory activities

Within its annual edition, the Startup Thinking Observatory conducts the following activities:

Tech Scenario and Scouting Workshops (Italian and English):
6 research cycles focused on specific areas selected for each edition, aimed at identifying and analyzing the most relevant Italian and international startups within each area. For each defined research area, a census, mapping, and analysis phase of startups is conducted. For 3 of the research cycles, the following are also produced: a detail database, a scenario booklet, detail sheets, and a Pitch Workshop to discuss the innovation opportunities analyzed through startup pitches (approximately 10 per session), selected together with the partners. Partners are actively involved in the pre- and post-workshop phases through one-to-one meetings with the Researchers. Support is also provided to partner companies to arrange direct one-to-one meetings with startups of interest and to request targeted follow-up discussions with the Researchers. Over the past ten years, more than 22,000 startups have been analyzed and mapped.
Methodology Labs
The project also includes 4 methodology labs each year on the processes that define the approach to Open Innovation and Corporate Entrepreneurship, aimed at building capabilities and methodologies and sharing best practices through the participation of faculty from Politecnico di Milano and other universities, experts, guest speaker testimonials, direct experience sharing among partners, and experiential work groups.
Annual public conference
Every year, the program also includes an open Conference for professionals involved in innovation, where Partners can participate as roundtable speakers. The event is jointly organized with the Startup and Scaleup Hi-tech Observatory and the Digital Transformation Academy Observatory. Last year’s conference brought together around 40 speakers and more than 600 attendees.
Discovery Session
Every year, the Observatory organizes a study tour to a leading innovation ecosystem, open to the entire community of partner organizations. The goal is to showcase and connect participants with technological excellence at both the national and international levels, strengthen community development and an atmosphere of trust and collaboration, and create opportunities for work that generates out-of-the-box innovation insights.
Exchange Forum
On this day, Partner companies meet in person and join discussion tables on specific topics, organized in a rotating format that enables each participant to address multiple topics and engage with different stakeholders all in the same day. These sessions alternate with contributions from inspirational guest speakers and company testimonials, offering practical insights and helping to spark debate at the tables. It is an opportunity to share experiences, practices, and real challenges, and to strengthen relationships within the community.
Project work with students
Startup Thinking gives partners access to some of the most valuable assets of Politecnico di Milano. It also offers the opportunity to develop projects with Politecnico di Milano students based on partner-defined briefs.
Community
Startup Thinking brings together the first and most dynamic Community of Innovation Managers in Italy. The project’s thirteenth edition involved more than 600 individual participants from Partner companies across its events.
Visibility initiatives for Partners
The project enhances the visibility of partner organizations engaged in a cultural transformation journey toward open innovation, strengthening their brand awareness and appeal while also helping energize the entrepreneurial ecosystem in Italy. This visibility is built through participation in roundtables, Workshops, and conferences organized by the Digital Innovation Observatories, through guest speaker opportunities in GSoM Politecnico di Milano courses, and through collaboration with media outlets such as EconomyUp, which featured more than 40 editorial placements during the twelfth edition. Additional visibility is ensured through recurring coverage focused on partner experiences, as well as through social media activities. Partners may also host one of the scheduled events, ensuring visibility both inside and outside the company of the innovation initiatives developed with Politecnico di Milano.
Weekly Newsletter and project repository
Alongside research activities and Workshops, the project also includes a weekly Newsletter covering the most relevant news on Italian and international startups and on open innovation, providing ongoing visibility into the opportunities emerging in this space and the most promising ventures.
All results from every edition are available through the project repository.

Outputs and content produced

The Observatory produces and shares a wide range of research outputs and in-depth content:

Annual research reports;
Tech scenario booklets;
Methodology deep-dive booklets;
Startup databases;
Startup detail sheets;
Static and interactive charts, dashboards and visual materials;
Articles, vertical deep dives, use cases, and editorial content;
Materials exclusively for Partners and Sponsors, and content designed to support decision-making by businesses, professionals, and institutions;
Topic-specific webinars

Dissemination, external events and institutional relations

Alongside its proprietary activities, the Observatory contributes to the public and institutional debate on innovation and Open Innovation through conferences, roundtables, public events, and opportunities for discussion with companies, associations, institutions, and stakeholders across the ecosystem. In particular, the Observatory:

takes part in dedicated eventson innovation and Open Innovation involving companies and institutions, both nationally and internationally;
involves its Directors and Researchers as speakers, panelists, moderators, or authorsin external conferences and initiatives, in Italy and abroad.

Key external settings include SMAU, WMF – We Make Future, as well as events promoted by companies and associations on topics such as Open Innovation, startups, digital innovation, governance, and the impact of innovation on organizational and social models.

Through these activities, the Observatory makes data, analysis, use cases, and interpretive tools available to its Community and the country as a whole to support understanding of the evolution of Open Innovation and innovation management, and to help guide organizations’ strategic choices.