(Learnex) The Unilever Foundry: how to work with startups in Singapore

EDHEC Innovation & Transformation Chair accompanied the EDHEC Global MBA students in Singapore during their Learning Expedition on Leadership. Within the next few weeks, we will share with you some insights on how to innovate in Asia.

(consulter la version française)

Unilever Foundry: addressing innovation in Asia 

Barbara Guerpillon is the director of Unilever Foundry Asia. This coworking space, called Level 3,  has been launched this year, and hosts 45 startups among them  Snapcart, Taskspotting, Adludio, GETCRAFT, NextBillion, ConnectedLife and Ecohub.

Barbara has explained to us, that she’s a firm believer in startup freedom ( she’s a former startupper herself ). Redefining the traditional concept of workspaces, LEVEL3 brings together Unilever, startups, and entrepreneurs to encourage innovation and create new partnerships that deliver real and meaningful business impact.

LEVEL3 focuses on the following areas: Marketing Tech & Ad Tech, Enterprise Tech, Products & Ingredients, New Business Model Innovation and Social Impact. Unilever Foundry eases connexions, partnerships and urge the startups to experiment as quick as possible. Unilever mentors can be provided to help measure the results of co-financed pilots. Loose links between Unilever Foundry and Startups make it easy to pull the plug out if needed.
 

The Chair crush?

The deal is crystal clear : FOMO (Fear of Missing Out) of Unilever on special sectors. No early stage, only scaling. No equity, no troubles. If it works Unilever will be your biggest client. Period.
Thanks who? thanks Barbara.

NB : Certains d’entre vous remarqueront peut-être que nos textes anglais et français ne sont pas strictement identiques. C’est vrai. Le niveau d’anglais écrit de la chaire est plus ou moins suffisant pour donner l’idée globale du texte français, mais pas pour le traduire vraiment professionnellement mot à mot. Nous ne sommes pas des traducteurs de précision, mais comme nous sommes les auteurs, vous pouvez compter sur nous pour avoir l’esprit du texte.