High Alpha Spin-Off Targeting Corporate Innovation
Elliott Parker is the CEO of High Alpha Innovation.
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As a subscriber you can listen to articles at work, in the car, or while you work out. Subscribe NowIndianapolis-based venture studio High Alpha has launched a new company designed to help larger businesses and corporations increase innovation through its venture studio model. High Alpha Innovation says it will take the model used by its parent to launch dozens of enterprise software companies and assist businesses with digital transformations by creating and investing in new startups.
Chief Executive Officer Elliott Parker says the company was born out of previous partnerships High Alpha formed with larger companies such assuch as Columbus-based Cummins Inc. (NYSE: CMI), Allegion PLC (NYSE: ALLE) and Silicon Valley Bank.
In an interview with Inside INdiana Business, Parker said partnering with larger corporations creates many benefits.
“We believe that it is a really good way to both launch startups that can get to scale faster because of their association with these corporate partners and number two, it’s a fantastic way to help drive innovation in these corporations,” said Parker. “And so as we’ve gotten more interest in it from corporations, what we decided to do was spin it out as its own business so we can have a team focused entirely on building startups with corporate partners.”
Parker says there is a big opportunity in terms of both the number and types of companies that can be created, as well as the impact the effort can have on the corporations.
Parker says there is a lot of demand for this type of service among larger corporations.
“I don’t know that there are any corporations out there that are satisfied with the quality or quantity of innovation that we’re able to produce today and so as a result, people are hungry for new approaches. There’s a feeling that a lot of the work that companies do on innovation is ‘innovation theater’; it doesn’t result in long-standing or enduring impact”
The process of working with larger corporations to develop a startup can range from six weeks to four months. Parker says the goal is for each company to systematically launch 5-10 companies per year for the next 5-10 years.
“It will create a lot of optionality for the business. It will create more resilience in the business and a lot of learning, which ultimately should be the goal of large corporations in fast-moving environments.”
Parker says High Alpha Innovation currently has seven full-time employees, along with the support of the parent High Alpha. He says while some corporations are understandably slowing down innovation investment as they move through the COVID-19 pandemic, but there are others that are doubling down on innovation.
“We’re seeing a lot of demand, a lot of companies approaching us about this. Overall, we’ve got some big, lofty goals. We want to partner with corporations to launch 100 startups by the end of 2025. It’s very ambitious but I think we can do it using this model.”
You can learn more about High Alpha Innovation by clicking here.
Parker says partnering with larger corporations creates many benefits.
Parker says there is a lot of demand for this type of service among larger corporations.