10 Corporate Incubator Examples You Should Know About

1. ZX Ventures by AB InBev

Head of ZX Ventures: Bernardo Novick

ZX Ventures develops, grows, and invests in new products and businesses across different industries – from consumer products to technology. Their ventures range from physical bar experiences to at-home devices that empower consumers to customise their beverages. 

ZX Ventures’ portfolio is supported by AB InBev’s considerable corporate assets like: global supply chains, production facilities, marketing assets and a vast commercial network.

2. P&G Ventures by P&G

Director at P&G Ventures: Penytina Dimitropoulou

P&G Ventures is an in-house incubator that partners with startups, entrepreneurs, and inventors to build brands and businesses in the consumer packaged goods space. Although their ventures come in all shapes and sizes, they all follow a simple three-step development process: 

1. Discover
2. Create 
3. Build

They operate by providing their startups with guidance in different areas, including branding, manufacturing, sales, legal and distribution.

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3. Chemovator GmbH by BASF 

Managing Director: Markus Bold

Chemovator provides a protected space for entrepreneurs within BASF to turn “bold ideas into thriving businesses”. Focused on exploring unconventional growth opportunities in areas like sustainability, next generation materials, chemistry, and more, Chemovator enables teams to test early-stage concepts by providing comprehensive coaching, mentoring, and resources to develop these ideas into market-ready solutions.

The result? Low-risk, investable ventures for BASF to internalise or turn into spin-off companies.

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4. Rise by Barclays 

FinTech and Innovation Director: Magdalena Krön

Rise brings together a global community of innovators to shape the future of finance. With offices in London, Mumbai and New York, Rise provides a space for innovative startups and scale-ups to connect and build cutting-edge FinTech solutions. 

Each venture is backed by Barclays' global network of experts, mentors, investors and partners.

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5. Wayra by Telefonica 

Managing Director: Andrés Saborido

Wayra helps Telefónica connect with disruptive tech startups on a global scale. They work with startups at every phase in their development, focusing on entertainment, AI, IoT, eHealth, data and FinTech. All in-house innovation projects are supported by the Wayra Builder unit, enabling them to find the right market fit and become independent spin-offs.

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6. Idea Incubator by AstraZeneca 

Senior Director: Ryan James Bate

Idea Incubator fuels innovation by providing scientists with the space and resources to develop concepts that could address some of the world’s most complex diseases. Through programs like the Global R&D Postdoctoral Challenge and the global A.Catalyst Network, it offers mentorship, research opportunities, and collaboration with stakeholders to create transformativ healthcare solutions.

Some of their focus areas include novel drugs and therapeutics to treat cancers, auto-immune diseases, respiratory illnesses and cardiovascular conditions.

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7. Digital Garage by Aviva

Chief Innovation Officer: Ben Luckett

Digital Garage is transforming the insurance industry by leveraging the power of data and technology to address Aviva’s biggest customer pain points. Pitch days and hackathons are employed to gather cutting-edge ideas from both external startups and employees. 

Most of the projects developed at Digital Garage focus on user experience, API, mobile-first, CMS and DevOps.

8. Ericsson ONE by Ericsson

Founder, VP & Global Head: Daniel Alexus

Ericsson ONE encourages employees to develop new business ideas and turn them into successful ventures beyond Ericsson's core business. Intrapreneurs with winning concepts get to create, test and validate their prototypes, build MVP’s and scale their ventures, all with the Ericsson ONE team’s support and mentoring.

Their ultimate goal is to provide a space where disruptive concepts come to life and out-of-the-box thinking is rewarded.

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9. InGenius by Nestlé

InGenius fosters a culture of entrepreneurship within Nestlé by providing a space for employees to grow ideas into businesses. Most projects go from idea to launch in six months, employing a learn-as-you-go and “fail smartly” mentality. Focus areas for new projects include agri-tech, plant and protein-based foods, drones, IoT, sustainability and D2C businesses.

The insights gathered from each successful project are used to accelerate growth within Nestlé.

10. Volvo Innovation Lab by Volvo Group

Vice President: Tommy Hansson

Volvo’s Innovation Lab uses rapid prototyping and in-market customer feedback to build solutions that create real customer value. Innovative ideas and concepts are gathered from various sources, including employees, external startup workshops or internal data analysis. 

In addition, design sprints are used as a tool to go from idea to validated prototype in just a few weeks.

Corporate incubation as part of your innovation strategy

As you can see, corporate incubators come in all shapes and sizes, and the strategy can be adapted to meet a wide variety of needs. While some companies use them mainly to accelerate their digital transformations, others focus on expanding beyond core offerings or improving existing products and services.

For more inspiring corporate incubator examples, check out our new report: 60 Corporate Incubator examples shaping our future. It’s packed with valuable insights that explain how some of today’s leading corporations are using incubation to boost growth and dominate their industries. 

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