Innovation Contests as an Effective Method to Leverage Startup Potential
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Innovation Contests as an Effective Method to Leverage Startup Potential
Zacharias, Nicolas | Richter, Nele
ZfKE - Journal for SMEs and Entrepreneurship, Vol. 73(2025), Iss. 1–2 : pp. 137–142 | First published online: December 03, 2025
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Zacharias, Nicolas
- Prof. Dr. Nicolas Zacharias holds the Chair of General Management/Marketing at Friedrich Schiller University Jena. His research interests include strategic marketing, technology and innovation management, sales management, sustainable marketing and innovation, as well as digital healthcare. During his academic career, he spent several months as a visiting researcher in Silicon Valley.
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Richter, Nele
- Dr. Nele Richter received her doctoral degree from the Faculty of Law, Economics and Business at Martin Luther University Halle-Wittenberg. Her research focuses on cooperation between established companies and startups to enhance innovativeness. She is currently working as an innovation manager at Krones AG, where she contributes to the management and optimization of internal innovation processes and the implementation of open innovation initiatives.
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Abstract
Many established companies are trying to benefit from the innovative power of startups. However, the trend towards classic corporate accelerators is already on the decline – the expected results have often not been achieved. This article outlines innovation contests as a promising alternative to accelerators and similar programs. It shows why this approach to interaction with startups leads to the desired innovation results in a much more targeted manner and thus surprisingly excels previous best practices.
Table of Contents
| Section Title | Page | Action | Price |
|---|---|---|---|
| Nicolas Zacharias / Nele Richter: Innovation Contests as an Effective Method to Leverage Startup Potential | 137 | ||
| I. Background | 137 | ||
| II. Studies on Innovation Contests | 138 | ||
| III. Innovation Contests – Nature and Implementation | 139 | ||
| IV. Unique Conditions of Innovation Contests | 140 | ||
| V. Characteristics of Innovation Contests During Interaction | 140 | ||
| VI. Conclusions and Implications | 141 | ||
| References | 141 | ||
| Statement on the Use of Generative Artifical Intelligence (GenAI) | 142 |