Open Innovation Working with Accelerator

The Case Study of Morinaga Co.,Ltd. Collaborated with 01Booster Inc.

Abstract

Morinaga Co., Ltd. is one of the listed companies with the first section of the Tokyo Stock Exchange, and its main business is manufacture and sale of confectioneries, foods, frozen desserts, health drinks etc. This paper describes the case study of Morinaga Co., Ltd. collaborated with 01Booster Inc. practicing Open Innovation. Morinaga Co., Ltd. implemented the "Morinaga Accelerator Program" from December 2015. This system collected 40 advisors with various knowledge and experience called "Mentor" from inside and outside of the company. In the company, they are experts in various fields such as production engineering, quality control, marketing, intellectual property, law, advertisement, for instance. Outside of the company, people with entrepreneurial experience, fund raising, and have a great network of connection. Through the implementation of the Accelerator Program, the company has created a mechanism for investing in new venture companies. More than 100 new business plans entries received, 4 were selected, and 2 were decided to be invested in 2015. The number of entries had increased 2016 compared with last year. 7 plans had been selected, and Morinaga is considering investment destinations. In addition, the company had established "Learning with Venture Companies" program by in-house open recruitment. Two employees selected by the internal public offering were transferred to the investee companies for one year. The two employees reduced the experience of the program to the company and led to improvement of the internal environment. They also cooperated in hiring new graduates and improved the company's brand image.