It was fantastic to participate in the Corporate Accelerator Symposium, albeit from afar. The Live telecast of the day long event was amazing! The event was so well put-together that it kept me gripped to my office chair the entire day. You can look at the amazing list of speakers and panelists here: http://corpacceleration.com/

The topic of corporate accelerators is close to my heart. I studied it for my doctoral work.[image error] I also had recently published a paper titled “Accelerating strategic fit or venture emergence: Different paths adopted by corporate accelerators” (co-author: Dean A Shepherd) in The Journal of Business Venturing. You can read the paper here: https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0883902617308376

 

[image error]Reference from Prof Perkmann’s Presentation

It was heartening to see Professors Markus Perkmann and Mike Wright of Imperial College, London refer to our paper in their keynote presentations. They set the stage for the day’s deliberations. This was followed by a series of panels comprising early practitioners of corporate accelerators and corporate innovation from leading and large corporations – Airbus, Swisscom, IBM, Bosch, Unilever, Daimler and others. There were also executives from sector specific accelerators, industry driven accelerators and collaborative accelerators. The discussions and the Q&A

[image error]Reference from Prof Wright’s Presentation

sessions provided insights into present practices, where corporate innovation was probably headed and how corporate accelerators are an important constituent of this innovation arsenal for forward looking corporations.

Researchers interested in accelerators, like myself, were provided enough pointers to potential research topics by practitioners. It also provided enough time to reflect on where the next set of research studies should focus. I was excited as I made notes on a range of research questions about corporate accelerators that I would love to explore. The last session presented by Cristobal Garcia-Herrera and Prof Markus Perkmann from Imperial College provided an indication of the immense learning offered during the day.

I experienced the power of networking during the event, though I attended it virtually. I connected to other attendees virtually via Twitter and Linkedin and left the event with more potential collaborations. The day ended on a high note when Cristobal Garcia-Herrera invited me to present at the next edition of the Symposium.

Thank you Imperial College, London for a great experience and a day of learning. I am now eagerly awaiting the next Corporate Accelerator Symposium.