Scrolling through databases like Crunchbase takes weeks, yet the data is often outdated.
Consultant reports cost thousands and arrive often too late.
Yumana and Novable combine AI discovery, human validation, and structured workflows to make scouting fast, reliable, and scalable from first contact to signed partnership.
With Yumana + Novable, Open Innovation teams cut scouting time by up to 70% and boost their PoC conversion rate by 3x.
From Fortune 500 companies to global industrial leaders, organizations use the platform to transform partner scouting into a continuous, data-driven process that delivers measurable results.
PoC conversion rate
cut scouting time
Novable is a true accelerator for innovation teams. The platform significantly reduces the time required to identify and connect with potential partners.
Every team used to scout and pilot in their own corner. We were duplicating efforts and missing opportunities. Yumana gave us one shared partner portfolio. Now we work in sync, with full visibility and fewer missed connections.
Startup scouting identifies high-potential external innovators that can solve business challenges or open new markets. It’s a core component of open innovation, enabling organizations to access emerging technologies and accelerate transformation.
In today’s environment where innovation cycles accelerate and knowledge becomes highly specialized, enterprises can no longer innovate completely in-house. Partnering with an external startup ecosystem becomes a strategic extension of innovation capabilities.
Key reasons scouting matters for open innovation:
In short, startup scouting transforms open innovation from ad-hoc discovery into a repeatable, strategic lever, enabling you to connect external breakthroughs with internal capability, prevent stagnation, and create real business value.
Most scouting tools rely purely on AI, offering quantity, not quality. Others depend on consultants, delivering accurate results but at a high cost and slow pace. Yumana + Novable combine the best of both worlds.
Novable’s AI-powered engine scans millions of sources to identify startups aligned with your needs, while human experts validate and qualify each match to ensure data accuracy and strategic relevance.
Fully integrated into Yumana’s innovation management platform, the solution covers the entire journey, from discovery to evaluation, PoC tracking, and ROI reporting.
It’s ideal for companies pursuing client venturing and strategic partnerships, helping them collaborate and co-develop with startups.
It’s less suited for CVC-style investment strategies, where the goal is primarily financial rather than collaborative.
Data accuracy is critical in startup scouting and that’s where Yumana + Novable stand out. Novable’s AI engine continuously scans millions of verified data sources, from startup databases and funding registries to corporate websites, patents, press releases, and social media updates. This ensures that every profile reflects the most current and reliable information available.
But we don’t stop at automation. Every startup in your “scouting basket” goes through a human validation process led by Novable’s experts. They verify key details such as funding stage, technology maturity, business model, and strategic fit, removing false positives and outdated records that often flood traditional databases.
This AI-plus-human approach ensures every startup you receive is current, relevant, and ready for partnership.
Yes. Both Yumana and Novable apply strict data protection and confidentiality standards. Your scouting briefs and startup data are private, encrypted, and accessible only to authorized users within your organization.
Novable’s AI runs in a secure, GDPR-compliant environment, and all human validations are performed by vetted experts under confidentiality agreements.
Your innovation strategy remains fully protected, no data is ever shared externally.
The integration is designed to make startup scouting fast, simple, and fully connected to your innovation workflows.
Everything starts directly in Yumana, where you create and submit your scouting brief, describing the challenge, the technologies of interest, or the type of startup you’re looking for. Once the brief is launched, Novable’s AI engine begins its search automatically.
Within 2 days, you’ll receive a vetted startup basket: a curated list of qualified startups that best match your brief. You can review each profile, validate the matches, flag the misses, and refine your selection collaboratively.
When your review is complete, simply push a button to export your validated startups directly into the Yumana Startup Relationship Management module. From there, you can evaluate, engage, and track PoCs or partnerships with full visibility.
This seamless integration turns startup scouting into a repeatable, end-to-end process, from brief to partnership, and all managed within one connected platform.
Yes. Yumana includes a full Startup Relationship Management (SRM) module designed to centralize and streamline every stage of collaboration, from first contact to proof of concept and scaling.
Each startup gets its own dedicated workspace within Yumana, where innovation teams can:
Unlike traditional CRMs or basic spreadsheets, Yumana’s SRM is built specifically for innovation management, integrating seamlessly with scouting, evaluation, and portfolio tracking.
It gives Open Innovation Managers a complete, auditable view of their startup ecosystem and ensures that every relationship contributes directly to strategic objectives and ROI.
Absolutely. Yumana lets you fully tailor your evaluation scorecards to match your strategy, from technology maturity and market fit to scalability, ESG impact, or strategic alignment.
You can weight criteria differently by project stage or partnership type, ensuring consistency across teams while keeping flexibility for local entities.
Integrated with Novable, your shortlisted startups can be assessed directly in Yumana using these custom scorecards, with automated scoring, reviewer tracking, and visual dashboards to quickly identify top opportunities.
