Arnaud Bonzom
Corporate innovation budgets keep rising, yet most large organisations still struggle to convert startup engagement into commercial outcomes. The tension is structural. Procurement cycles, risk committees and quarterly targets collide with the speed and failure tolerance that make startups useful in the first place, and leaders need a clear map of which engagement model actually fits which strategic problem.
Arnaud Bonzom helps large organisations design corporate-startup engagement strategies that produce real commercial and innovation outcomes, drawing on his research at INSEAD and his operator experience at 500 Startups.
Full Profile
Why organisations work with Arnaud Bonzom
- He co-authored the INSEAD and 500 Startups study of the Forbes Global 500, which mapped how 262 of the world’s largest public companies actually engage startups. Few corporate-innovation speakers can point to an original dataset of that scale.
- He has advised more than 200 corporations on corporate-startup engagement, including Accenture, Airbus, Allianz, AWS, BMW, Shell, Standard Chartered and Volkswagen, as well as the European Commission and several national governments.
- He can distinguish, on the record, between a startup competition, a corporate accelerator, a corporate venture capital arm and a direct M&A play, and tell a board which one fits the problem they are actually trying to solve.
- His vantage point is Southeast Asia, built over a decade on the ground in Singapore at 500 Startups and INSEAD, which matters for Western corporates trying to understand Asian market entry and innovation sourcing.
Biography highlights
- Co-author with INSEAD Professor Serguei Netessine of “How do the World’s Biggest Companies Deal with the Startup Revolution?”, the INSEAD and 500 Startups study covering the Forbes Global 500.
- Former Venture Partner at 500 Startups, focused on Southeast Asian founders.
- Entrepreneur-in-Residence at INSEAD; previously Assistant Director of Corporate Partnership Development at INSEAD.
- Founder and Managing Director of Black Mangroves; co-founder of Map of the Money, a platform mapping active investors across Southeast Asia.
- Research and commentary cited by Forbes, Bloomberg TV, Les Echos, Bain, SAP, BNP Paribas and Orange, with coverage in 28 countries.
- Speaker at Slush, Web Summit, DLD, Tech in Asia, Rise and SuperReturn.
Biography
Most large companies now run some form of startup engagement programme. The INSEAD and 500 Startups study of the Forbes Global 500, co-authored by Arnaud Bonzom with Professor Serguei Netessine, found that 262 of those 500 companies were already working with startups. The harder question, which the study set out to answer, is which models actually produce returns.
That question sits at the centre of his work. As Director of Corporate Innovation at 500 Startups and later as Entrepreneur-in-Residence at INSEAD, he spent years watching corporates set up accelerators, write cheques, sign partnerships and run competitions, often in parallel, often without a clear theory of what each one was meant to deliver. His argument to boards is that these are different instruments with different risk profiles, and treating them as interchangeable is how budgets get burned.
He has put the argument to more than 200 corporations, including Accenture, Airbus, Allianz, AWS, BMW, Shell, Standard Chartered and Volkswagen, and to the European Commission and the governments of Estonia, Germany, Singapore and Taiwan. His work has been cited by Forbes, Bloomberg TV, Les Echos, Bain, SAP, BNP Paribas and Orange, with coverage across 28 countries.
His current base is Singapore, where he founded Black Mangroves and co-founded Map of the Money, a data platform that maps active investors across Southeast Asia. That gives him a direct line into one of the more complex venture ecosystems in the world, which matters for any multinational trying to understand where Asian growth capital is actually moving.
Key speaking topics
- Corporate-startup engagement models
- Corporate venture capital
- Startup ecosystems
- Southeast Asia innovation and venture capital
- Corporate innovation strategy
- Entrepreneurship and fundraising
Ideal for
- CEOs, CSOs and heads of strategy reassessing corporate innovation and venture programmes
- Corporate venture capital leads, accelerator directors and M&A teams
- Boards and executive committees of multinationals expanding into or sourcing innovation from Southeast Asia
Audience outcomes
- A clear read on which corporate-startup engagement model fits which strategic objective, with trade-offs named
- A grounded view of how the Forbes Global 500 are actually engaging startups, based on original research rather than anecdote
- A practical perspective on Southeast Asia’s venture and innovation landscape for corporates entering or scaling in the region
- Sharper questions to take back to internal innovation teams about what returns they are actually being asked to produce
Talks
A practical walkthrough of the four main engagement models open to corporates, with evidence on what works.
Key takeaways:
- The distinction between startup competitions, corporate accelerators, corporate venture capital and direct M&A, and when each fits
- What the Forbes Global 500 study reveals about current corporate practice
- How to set realistic expectations and governance for a corporate-startup programme
The mirror view, aimed at founders and corporate partnership teams navigating enterprise sales and investment.
Key takeaways:
- How to read a corporate counterparty and identify the right entry point
- Common failure patterns in corporate pilots and how to avoid them
- Structuring partnerships that survive procurement and leadership change
An operator’s view of one of Asia’s most active innovation hubs.
Key takeaways:
- The structure of Singapore’s funding landscape and its key active investors
- Government, corporate and private capital flows shaping the region
- What multinationals should know before sourcing innovation from Southeast Asia