It takes a village to build a startup – they depend on their environment, known as an innovation ecosystem. In Open Range, we start by understanding the science of making that startup succeed. We have studied startups and startup acceleration. We went so far as to write a book about it – “Industrializing Innovation: The Next Revolution“. When we build out those ecosystems, we call them an “Innovation Hub“. And they are key to changing the way we bring technology forward.
Startups exist on a continuum. Early stage ventures need one kind of help, and as they grow the kind of help they need changes. Most accelerators in innovation hubs exist on the same continuum, but they focus on a narrow piece of that continuum. Worse, the accelerators build out only a part of the entire ecosystem. They succeed more because they screen hundreds of ventures than because they bring ventures forward using that part of the ecosystem, not the entire coordinated concert of communities.
Open Range takes a different view. We know that starting a new technology venture is hard. Without the support of an ecosystem, the vast majority of ventures will fail. We build out the innovation ecosystem where it does not exist. When there are some elements, Open Range works with those elements. We also build services designed to bolster the full range of where startups are: from the very beginning through building product and into growth.
A key advantage for Open Range Innovation Hubs is our ability to bring them to where innovators live. We look for geographies that are brimming with potential: