What Makes a Successful and Long-Term Strategic Partnership?

What Makes a Partnership Strategic? 

Before diving in, let’s go back to basics – what is a strategic partnership? 

For a partnership to be strategic, two companies or organisations must join together to achieve shared objectives for the benefit of both parties. It’s important to note that the strategic partners remain independent. They only share the benefits (and risks) over joint actions. 

There is more than one type of strategic partnership. Sometimes, this partnership is developed through an equity alliance, where one partner purchases a stake in the other company. In other scenarios, both strategic partners will launch a joint venture, combining resources and expertise to pursue a specific goal. Finally, non-traditional partnerships involve things like sharing services or forming a joint Research and Development department to ensure the success of both partners. 

Whichever type of strategic partnership you might consider, one thing’s for certain – you’ll enjoy plenty of benefits. 

Some of these include scaling your business, cutting costs, gaining a competitive advantage, boosting revenue, reaching new markets, and gaining access to numerous resources. Of course, this exchange of ideas, resources, and technologies also results in unprecedented innovation in the operation of the strategic partners. 

One looks at all the benefits of strategic partnerships, and it becomes clear that startups can benefit from a strategic partnership the most. Getting a company off the ground is nothing short of a Herculean endeavour, so you’ll need every bit of help you can get. A strategic partnership can give you the boost you need to set your business up for success from the get-go. It lends you resources, reach, and, perhaps more importantly, credibility. 

But forming a successful strategic partnership is no easy task. To make a partnership successful and long-term, partners should commit to it at all levels. Also, when looking for potential partners, it’s crucial to find those that match your business capabilities, skills, and corporate culture. At its core, a strategic partnership is just like any other partnership – it must be a good fit. 

In addition, strategic partners should recognize each other as a priority and ensure every employee does the same. Only through direct and open communication, clearly defined roles and goals, and a shared commitment to mutual success can a strategic partnership be a resounding success. 

If even one of these elements isn’t in place, the very foundation of a partnership might be compromised. Even worse, common mistakes like disagreement on revenue sharing, lack of resources, competition, and pursuit of conflicting goals can doom the partnership from the beginning. 

How Can Green Brother Help Startups? 

Now that you know what strategic partnerships are and how they can help startups, let’s find you a partner that checks all the boxes for a successful and efficient strategic partner. Enter Green Brother. 

Green Brother is an extensive network and investment advisory service that can help your startup thrive from the get-go. How? By helping you reach international markets, attract substantial investments, and build relevant connections to scale your startup. This makes Green Brother much more than an ordinary business partner; it makes the company your all-in-one solution for getting your business off the ground. 

Partnering with Green Brother gives you access to our team’s deep knowledge, our vast network of connections, and our thriving community that is more than happy to provide essential insights and support for startups (and other organisations like universities, small and medium-sized enterprises, and corporations). 

Have we piqued your interest? If so, let’s dive into the specifics so you can understand how Green Brother can help your startup in practice. 

Granting Access to the EIT Network 

The EIT (European Institute of Innovation and Technology) network is a European Union (EU) initiative that strives to strengthen sustainable innovation ecosystems across Europe. The network aims to foster collaboration between businesses, research organisations, and higher education institutions. Gaining access to the EIT network through Green Brother will open up a world of possibilities for your startup in terms of business opportunities, potential collaborations, and valuable resources. 

It’s also worth mentioning a specific body within the EIT network – InnoEnergy. InnoEnergy is the world’s largest sustainable energy innovation ecosystem striving to build a more sustainable future for EU countries. EIT InnoEnergy brings people and resources together, catalysing and accelerating the energy transition. 

By collaborating with InnoEnergy, start-ups, scale-ups, and innovators receive tailor-made support to boost and de-risk business cases and speed up time to market. 

EIT InnoEnergy has supported 500+ sustainable energy innovations and invested in 200+ companies, all on track to generate 110 billion in revenue and save 2.1 gigatonnes of CO2e accumulatively by 2030. 90% of its start-ups already work with global brand names including ABB, BMW, EDF, Engie, Volkswagen, Galp, Schneider Electric, and Naturgy. 

Another EIT body that can help your startup thrive is Urban Mobility. EIT Urban Mobility since January 2019 has been working to encourage positive changes in the way people move around cities in order to make them more liveable places.  

The main goal of this body is to create more sociable and healthier environments in urban spaces. To do so, Urban Mobility invests in startups offering innovative mobility solutions. 

The main sectors Urban Mobility supports include the following: 

• Integrated mobility (e.g., public transport) 

• Sustainable city logistics 

• Transport infrastructure 

• Mobility and energy (e.g., transport electrification) 

• Future mobility (e.g., connected vehicles (V2X) and autonomous systems) 

As a representative of both InnoEnergy and Urban Mobility in Hungary, Green Brother can help your startup tap into these dynamic EIT networks, thus opening doors to invaluable resources, expert guidance, and financial support. 

Ensuring a Smooth Partnership 

The road to success is often bumpy, so Green Brother does its best to not complicate it any further. That’s why our company offers a pretty straightforward path to partnership that goes something like this: 

1. A startup with an innovative product or project turns to us for professional help. 

1. Our team places the product or project in the given industry’s value chain. 

1. We look into the startup owner’s competencies and the best way to turn their idea into reality (a best-selling product or project). 

Step 3 is where the partnership truly begins. Green Brother will acquire all the resources your startup might be missing to move forward. Of course, this applies to financing but also to crucial aspects like education, networking, and the ability to do pilot projects. 

But keep one thing in mind – if Green Brother doesn’t see the potential in your product or project or deems it too risky or impossible to achieve, we’ll tell you so. We won’t waste your time and money on a wild goose chase that simply isn’t meant to be. 

Choose Wisely 

There are a million little things that go into a successful strategic partnership, including adopting a proper strategy, aligning goals, and seamlessly integrating the newfound partnership with the organisation’s daily operations. But if you take it back to the beginning, the No. 1 key to a strategic partnership’s success is finding the right partner. And that’s precisely what Green Brother can be for your startup.