Buy, don't invest - why venture clienting matters | Martin Fink | Innovating Finland with Tommi Mäenpää Ep.1

Companies spend a lot of time talking about startups and innovation. But how often does that actually translate into something the business uses?

In the first episode of Innovating Finland, Tommi Mäenpää sits down with Martin Fink, CEO of 27pilots, to unpack Venture Clienting: an approach where companies work with startups by becoming their customers rather than their investors. They talk about the different ways to collaborate with startups, why the business problem should come before the startup, and what it takes to move from interesting pilots to real adoption and impact.

So, where does 27pilots fit in? 27pilots specializes in Venture Clienting and helps companies build the capabilities to systematically identify, test and adopt startup technologies. The company developed from the Venture Client Model pioneered by Gregor Gimmy at BMW and became part of Deloitte in 2023. Together with Deloitte's broader innovation, strategy and transformation capabilities, that creates a pretty natural combination: helping companies connect real business challenges with startup solutions and turn those solutions into something that can actually scale.

Expect a practical conversation about startups, corporate innovation, Finland's innovation landscape, and a simple question for leaders: are you measuring how many startups you meet, or the impact they create?

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Want to continue the conversation? The Venture Client Summit brings together Venture Client leaders, corporate innovators and ecosystem experts in Helsinki to exchange practical lessons, explore emerging technologies and connect ahead of Slush.

Details and registration: Deloitte | The Venture Client Summit