My Anova Experience : a glimpse at the Startup Studios
During my internship at Anova, startup studio of Quantmetry, I got immersed in the French Startup Ecosystem. I have realized that there is a lack of awareness about the startup studio business model compared to other classical startup support systems such as VCs, incubator etc. Hence, with this post, I aim to transfer the key learnings from my experience at Anova and create awareness of French startup studios.
You can also check this medium article : https://medium.com/@idil.ozdemir/anova-my-startup-studio-experience-5973cade62bc
Startup ecosystem consists of startups themselves and their supporting systems. These supporting systems include: angel and seed investors, venture capitals, accelerators, incubators, co-working spaces and startup studios.
Figure: The French Startup Ecosystem
Source : https://medium.com/@idil.ozdemir/all-the-actors-in-the-french-startup-ecosystem-almost-bd133f54fe9f
A NEW BUSINESS MODEL : STARTUP STUDIO
What is unique about startup studios?
A startup studio (a.k.a. venture builder, venture studio, startup factory) is a company that builds startups. At startup studios, ideas are generated, built and launched in-house. Finally, startup studios are not only investors but also co-founders of startups (intensive human capital investment in the creation phase, to the point, that startup is created by the studio team and startup employees are recruited after the creation).
Two main functions of startup studios
1. Capital support
> Provide funds to the portfolio startups
2. Operational support
> Creation of the product
> Recruitment of the management team
> Mentorship in different expertise areas; artificial intelligence, design, IP, marketing etc.
Figure: Startup Studio Pipeline
Startup Studios can be classified based on their methodology and focus.
Methodology classification :
- Builder Studio
Focuses on creating and developing companies, mostly from internal ideas, and providing critical resources (Ex. Rocket Internet, eFounders). Builder studios have many similarities with incubators.
- Corporate Studio (a.k.a. Startup for Enterprise, Excubator)
Corporate companies build a startup with Startup Studios to stay competitive. Generally, methodology involves an “intrapreneur” or a team of “intrapreneur” from the partner corporate. The startup is based on the needs of corporate, and built with the intrapreneur (Ex. Prehype, BCG Digital Ventures.)
- Investor Studio
Brings in early-stage external startups and helps them grow by providing both funds and expertise. This model is significantly similar to the accelerator model (Ex. BetaWorks, Science).
- Cross-functional studio (hybrid model)
Some studios work cross-functionally (Ex. Betaworks has an 11-week camp). These startup studios may serve as VC funds and incubators. This, Incubator VC model is quite similar to the startup studio model. In addition to that, startup studios which have multiple functions fall into the cross-functional studio category.
Focus classification
- Focus on single business vertical: SaaS, B2B, B2C etc.
- Focus on sector: MedTech, FinTech etc.
- Generalist
Figure: Startup Studios in France
Disclaimer : the data published in this article reflects only the startup studios that have been researched, thus it is by no means an exhaustive study.
