Case Study: How a Global Pharma Company Used Open Innovation Challenges to Move Startups from Application to Pilot

Executive Summary:
A global pharmaceutical company used Traction to run structured open innovation challenges, manage hundreds of startup applications, support venture-style evaluations, host demo days, and transition winning startups into pilots with internal business units — all within a single platform.

Open innovation only works when it’s operationalized.

That was the lesson learned by a global pharmaceutical company that had made open innovation a strategic priority. The organization actively sought external startups to accelerate R&D, digital health, and operational innovation — but struggled to manage the growing complexity of challenge-based engagement at scale.

Applications were increasing.
Stakeholder involvement was expanding.
But the process itself was becoming fragmented.

The Challenge: Scaling Open Innovation Without Losing Structure

The company regularly launched open innovation challenges to attract startups aligned to strategic priorities such as:

• Digital health and patient engagement
• Data and analytics
• Advanced manufacturing and supply chain
• New therapeutic enablement technologies

Startups applied from around the world. Venture, innovation, and business leaders participated in evaluations. Demo days were organized to showcase finalists.

But much of this work was handled across disconnected tools:

• Application data lived in forms and spreadsheets
• Evaluations happened via email and ad hoc documents
• Shortlists were hard to track consistently
• Demo day preparation was manual
• Transitioning winners into pilots required significant coordination

As challenge volume increased, leaders asked:

• How do we evaluate startups consistently and fairly?
• How do we compare applications across challenges?
• How do we ensure winning startups actually move into pilots?

The team needed a way to run open innovation like a repeatable operating model — not a one-off event.

The Shift: Managing Open Innovation End-to-End in One Platform

To bring structure and scalability to the process, the pharma venture and innovation team adopted Traction as the system of record for open innovation challenges.

Using an enterprise-grade open innovation platform, the team was able to manage the full lifecycle of startup engagement — from challenge launch through pilot execution — in a single, governed environment.

The goal was to manage the entire lifecycle:
Startup application → evaluation → shortlisting → demo days → pilot enablement

All in one place.

Running Open Innovation Challenges at Scale

Using Traction, the team launched multiple open innovation challenges aligned to specific business needs.

Structured Startup Applications

Startups applied directly through Traction, submitting:

• Company and team information
• Technology descriptions
• Use case alignment
• Maturity and readiness indicators

This ensured applications were standardized from the start, making downstream evaluation significantly easier.

Venture-Style Evaluation and Shortlisting

Once applications were submitted, the pharma venture team used Traction to manage structured evaluations.

Reviewers scored startups against consistent criteria such as:

• Strategic fit
• Technical readiness
• Differentiation
• Commercial potential

Traction made it easy to:

• Assign reviewers
• Compare scores objectively
• Identify top-performing startups
• Shortlist candidates transparently

Instead of fragmented opinions, the team gained decision-ready insight.

Demo Days: From Shortlist to Live Evaluation

Shortlisted startups were invited to participate in demo days.

Traction was used to:

• Track demo day participants
• Share briefing materials with reviewers
• Capture feedback and follow-up notes
• Record outcomes and next steps

Demo days became part of a repeatable workflow, not a logistical scramble.

Selecting Winners and Enabling Execution

Following demo days, winning startups were selected based on evaluation results and leadership input.

For selected startups, the pharma company:

• Made venture investments where appropriate
• Introduced startups to relevant internal business units
• Initiated pilot discussions to test solutions in real environments

Crucially, Traction ensured that winners didn’t stall after the announcement.

Each winning startup was transitioned into a formal pilot workflow, with:

• Clear ownership
• Defined objectives
• Next-step tracking

Open innovation moved beyond discovery — into execution.

The Outcome: Open Innovation That Actually Moves Forward

By managing the entire process in Traction, the organization achieved:

• A repeatable, scalable model for open innovation challenges
• More consistent and defensible startup evaluations
• Faster shortlisting and decision cycles
• Smoother execution from demo day to pilot
• Clear visibility for leadership across challenges and outcomes

Most importantly, startups didn’t disappear after demo day.

They moved into real engagements with business units, where value could be tested and proven.

What the VP of Innovation Said

“Traction gave us a way to run open innovation as a process, not an event. From applications to demo days to pilots, we finally had one system that kept everything moving forward.”

— VP of Innovation, Global Pharmaceutical Company

Why This Matters for Open Innovation Teams

Many organizations launch startup challenges.
Few operationalize what happens next.

This case shows that open innovation delivers value when:

• Startup engagement is structured
• Evaluations are consistent
• Decisions are traceable
• Winners have a clear path into pilots

A platform approach turns open innovation from a sourcing exercise into a repeatable engine for execution.

Final Thought

Open innovation isn’t about how many startups apply.

It’s about how effectively organizations evaluate opportunities, make decisions, and turn promising ideas into pilots that matter.

By managing the entire open innovation lifecycle in Traction, this pharma company turned startup challenges into a scalable pathway from discovery to execution.

About Traction Technology

Traction Technology helps enterprise innovation teams bring structure and consistency to how ideas, emerging technologies, and innovation projects are evaluated, prioritized, and scaled.

Recognized by Gartner as a leading Innovation Management Platform, Traction Technology applies Traction AI to innovation decision-making — helping global enterprises reduce risk, improve alignment, and move initiatives from experimentation to execution with confidence.

Explore how Traction Technology supports Open Innovation with the Traction Platform

“By accelerating technology discovery and evaluation, Traction Technology delivers a faster time-to-innovation and supports revenue-generating digital transformation initiatives.”
— Global F100 Manufacturing CIO

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