Rohit Kumar is responsible for Researchwire European & North American business. He is an HEC, Paris 2008 MBA and Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Kharagpur 2002 engineering graduate with close to 17 years of experience in business innovation and strategy, business development and client relationship roles. He is working with ResearchWire since 2016 and as a partner, is responsible for the growth of ResearchWire in Europe and North America.
Prior to ResearchWire, Rohit was handling sales strategy and pricing for Syniverse Technologies, a telecom services provider, where he was instrumental for growth in EMEA and India through product innovations, creative pricing and discounting models and executing strategic sales plans.
Rohit is based out of Luxembourg and has been living in Europe for last 12 years. He understands European & North American customers and their needs and ensures that our customers always have a local person to reach out whenever needed.
Introduction
Regardless of what business stage you are in, giants in businesses will advise you to build a strong marketing and product strategy to gain traction. The start-up community will advise you to focus on establishing a strong cash flow and customer base. Leadership team, design thinking approaches, digital growth hacks, formalized distribution channels and IP strategy will play an equally critical role.
Growth strategies for early-stage start-ups therefore need to develop a commercially sustainable business model that can significantly scale up customer base, market penetration and new markets.
Early-stage Startups in the post Covid era faced numerous challenges in planning a successful and sustainable business strategy. In this context, the European ecosystem has also undergone some positive developments to attract aspiring youth to become motivated and resilient entrepreneurs. The region witnessed a startup explosion post 2011 and is on a continuing trend.
As per the news reports and business surveys, over $12 billion has been raised by European startups in 2022. Estonia has become one of Europe’s emerging startup homelands with a huge potential for innovation. Sweden has the most active startup ecosystems in Europe. It produced key brands such as IKEA and Volvo and many startup unicorns, including online platform Klarna and sustainable business Northvolt. Swedish companies raised about €570 per capita, which is considerably higher than the European average in 2022.Switzerland, Finland, Iceland and UK are also home to several successful startups. New milestones are acquired and multiple funding deals have been closed in the last two years.
Strategic challenges for Startups in Europe
Despite growth there are key challenges that startups face during their growth cycle. The start-up scene in Europe is no different.
- Lack of Talent: Many tech startups in East and West Europe face “lack of talent” as one of the many concerns. While Europe has a highly skilled workforce, startups may struggle to attract and retain the best talent, particularly in competing with larger, more established companies.
- Idea Validation: Early-stage startups in Europe need to confirm that their business ideas are trying to solve the problem that is faced by a sizable segment of consumers. This needs important R&D work, which is often difficult as most startups don’t have a team who are capable of developing ideas into successful insights. ResearchWire covers the inability of a startup to undertake the necessary R&D efforts. It helps businesses to transition from ideas to successful products and expand across the globe.
- Issue of Fundraising: European startups face another major challenge of fundraising. Risk-averse nature of European venture capitalists (VCs) often account for this lean scenario.
- Regulatory Complexity: The regulatory environment in Europe can be complex, with different regulations in different countries, which can create challenges for startups looking to expand across borders. Navigating different regulations, tax systems, and legal frameworks can be time-consuming and expensive. The advent of the Unified Patent Court (UPC) is expected to simplify the process of patent enforcement in Europe by establishing a single court system that will have jurisdiction over patent disputes across multiple European countries.
- Russia-Ukraine War has also had severe economic impact on supply chain disruptions, shortages of raw materials and key components, and rising energy prices. Lack of communication between team members especially during the hybrid work phase, resistance to change in the workplace and limited skill development of employees affected startup units. Thus, innovative strategic policies and global competitive solutions are required to unlock the true potential of emerging entrepreneurs and startups working to protect their IP.
- Finding a suitable partner in the new markets also posed as a serious challenge.
Overcoming Challenges
One way to overcome these challenges is to enlist strategic priorities. These are values that drives your business goals. A startup will undoubtedly have multiple forces pulling it in several directions. As startup founders, it is important to understand each element in their business strategy so that right resources can be allocated to implement it successfully. Whether it’s gaining an investment, closing a deal, deploying AI/ML technology or hiring new teams, business leaders must not lose sight of their unique business features and innovation.
Strategic priorities are at the core of every business. The best leaders prepare for the future, by using the latest technology, not only for success but for crises too. Industry surveys suggest that 95% of business leaders in Europe expect a crisis at least once a year. Hence, success and survival of an early-stage startup is possible through agility, humility and rapid response to any economic crisis or changing market situation. Strategic priorities can enable startups to work at a greater efficiency when implementing new technology, or responding to cyber-crimes/frauds and allowing it to remain competitive in an ever-changing market scenario.
Why do European Startups need a Strategic Plan?
The startup culture in Europe is undergoing a boom. Countries are competing to be the hub of innovation. Business founders, accelerators, entrepreneurial campuses, have been built up in the European landscape. A great startup setting is expected in the near future.
A strategic plan contains short and long-term vision, mission, goals, and objectives. Priorities help create actionable steps that lead to the company’s overall goals. They enable aligning the right resources at the right time to cope with inevitable change and growth.
ResearchWire leaders shared valuable insights at a conference in Luxembourg for startups titled “IP for startups” held three years back. The conference was organised in association with IBCL (Indian business chambers of Luxembourg), sponsored by Dennemeyer & Associates. Rohit Kumar, Director ResearchWire in Europe, spoke about the best practices that any startup must adopt to ensure their IP is protected and managed well. He mentored an incubation program for startups. The event received positive feedback from its 70 + attendees.
The conference was intended to create awareness about Intellectual property among the startups in Luxembourg and provide them with some guidelines, tips and tricks on how to manage and protect intellectual property for any startups. The event had presentations given by notable personalities related to IP in Luxembourg such as Olivier Lombardo, head of trademarks in Dennemeyer & Associates, Serge Quazzoti, Director of IPIL and Stephane Speich from Dennemeyer & Associates.
Patent Strategy for Tech start-ups
For early age tech start-ups, patents can be useful tools to build competitive edge. They are an important part of any commercial tech start-up. It is worth considering for a company to develop their intellectual property, understand how it can generate revenue and ways to protect these patents.
Patents create value for a business. Tech start-up’s products can be often protected through patents. To get started on building your patent strategy for a tech start-up, patentability search for “prior art” is the first step.
While developing a focused IP strategy, it will be helpful to draw up timing strategies and financial considerations as well.
Key Strategic Priorities for European Startups Today
- Protect IP Assets: Proactive Risk Management
IP assets have become one of the most important assets that European businesses could own. Therefore, it is imperative for businesses to understand the quantity and quality of the IPs with them so that third parties can put a value on them. To identify IP assets that are not being used currently and whose maintenance costs are being unnecessarily paid. To assess whether all the IP assets are adequately protected, it is necessary to ensure that a startup in Europe has all the necessary rights to its IP assets in order to check whether a third party is infringing on its IP rights.
This requires conducting due diligence is a non-negotiable way to mitigate risks involved. Following a proper due diligence strategy provides a world of benefits for all the stakeholders involved. Businesses need to follow unified patent protocols in order to continue the path to innovation and avoid legal disputes and disturbances.
The Unitary Patent (UP) system that is awaited to start in Europe in June 2023 will allow applicants to get uniform patent protection in 25 EU Members systems by submitting one single request to the European Patent Office (EPO) after publishing of the granted European patent.
- Rapid Advancement in the Digital Space
Earlystage startups in Europe need to include digital transformation in their strategic plans as Covid-19 pandemic has pushed it up the priorities list. Web3 is also being used in Europe and has several potential applications across industries aimed to solve ownership issues surrounding privacy, self-sovereignty, and economics within the internet. Analytics tools, AI and IoT-enabled digital concepts can help to detect product optimisation potential based on product performance and customer data. Hybrid work post-pandemic, has made businesses prioritise digital growth to stay competitive and profitable. Technology advancement and innovation is the key to success and survival for a startup. Digital transformation is necessary so that the right cloud-based solutions can be identified for a startup.
- AI based Competitive Analysis of the European and Global Market
European startup teams need to gather and analyse competitive information to identify market opportunities, threats, and risks. This will help them to compete with the best in the industry. It will make startup leaders take data-driven decisions that will put their brand in a better position in the market.
The entry of artificial intelligence (AI) has completely changed the way how it is done. Competitive analysis includes monitoring competitors’ products, marketing techniques, supply chain, market, operations strategy, patent strategy, and a lot more. This analysis helps startups gain a competitive advantage and be in a position to stay ahead of competitors. New areas like solar-powered cars, plant-based food startups, and neo banks are also emerging in the European market.
- Innovative and Environment Friendly
Innovative and creative solutions are key priorities for all European startups. They need to be showcased to investors before competitors and get business. The UK leads the smart charging regulations race with measures that govern the use of EV chargers. In a bid to transition to zero-emission road transport and reduce emissions from conventional vehicles, in July 2019, the UK government announced that all government-funded home charge points would need to use smart technology to fulfil their commitment to the Road to Zero Strategy.
AI has the ability to quickly identify opportunities in the market. News tracking, AI-enabled content recommendation, opportunity tracking, social media monitoring, auto-tagging, customer preference analysis, comparison with competitors across different categories, detailed data breakdown etc., are some of the use cases of AI in competitive intelligence programs.
- Attracting Customers through Branding and Marketing
The marketing strategy needs to identify customers, track buyer journey, stand out from the competition, include specific marketing idea, and identify profiting marketing channels. The startup needs to develop targeted social media campaigns, understand customer needs and preferences. Additionally, leveraging data can help the startup identify areas where it can innovate and build its brand, research customer trends and expand its operations based on the market potential. A well-planned sales plan will also help build the tactics and processes that will be used to turn leads into customers.
- Build A Strong Team
HR teams in European startups needs to develop a plan to ensure the company has the necessary staff to achieve its business goals. Post Covid-19 employees need to feel refreshed and energised so they can work effectively. As an inclusive workplace, the leaders need to take constant measures to be aware of individual perceptions of job security thereby cultivating an innovative environment that helps in internal and external brand building and lays a strong foundation that will enable business growth.
Inclusivity comes into play for talent retention. Leaders have to put their people before themselves that values empowerment. The leadership approach has to listen to employees who are interacting with customers and understanding market forces. Problem-solving in the HR domain has to shift from identifying the problem and fixing it to getting to the root of the problem and eliminating it. Success has to be defined not by financial and performance outcomes alone but should also include risk-taking abilities.
Researchwire was a Bronze Sponsor at the IPBC Conference in Paris held on 27-29 March 2023:
IPBC Europe 2023 was held in Paris on 27-29 March 2023. IPBC Europe brought together senior thought-leaders and decision makers who operated in the burgeoning European intellectual property market. Researchwire participated as a Bronze Sponsor in this key event to share ideas, build new relationships, and grow their businesses. It was armed with a cutting-edge agenda and roster of industry leaders. Hosted by IAM, the event delved into the European IP landscape and the key factors driving patent protection and monetization strategies. This event was attended by over 300 top IP corporate executives, deal makers, policy experts, legal professionals, and service providers and was the biggest IP event of the year.
Conclusion
It is an exciting time to be in the startup space with great opportunities for young talents and Businesses for Innovating ideas using AI, Technology and establishing business strategies that can reduce cost of production, increase business opportunities, improve communication and upskill employees. The best leaders are futuristic, realistic and quick-to-respond to market dynamics, not just for securing wins but deal with crisis situations too. Industry data suggests that 95% business leaders expect a crisis at least once a year. Success and survival of an early-stage startup is therefore possible through agility, humility and rapid response to any economic crisis or changing market situation. Strategic priorities can enable startups to work at a greater efficiency when implementing new technology, or responding to cybercrimes/frauds and allowing it to remain competitive in an ever-changing market scenario.
Researchwire is an ISO 27001 certified, specialised IP research and R&D support company. Works closely with IP & legal teams to provide patent portfolio services and all types of patent searches & patent drafting. It provides enterprises and R&D centres with insightful and effective solutions to address their technology development challenges and roadmap planning.
