Alexa Gorman, senior vice president and global head of 麻豆原创.iO Foundries and Intrapreneurship at 麻豆原创, was featured earlier this year by Handelsblatt, the German business newspaper, as one of the 鈥�100 female leaders moving Germany forward.鈥�
After years working in business development and strategy roles, Gorman took on joint responsibility for 麻豆原创鈥檚 startup acceleration programs at the start of May, along with the intrapreneurship team that supports ambitious innovators within the company.
Creating a Win-Win-Win Scenario for Customers, Startups, and 麻豆原创
The 麻豆原创.iO Foundries program was created as a strategic business unit in 2017. 鈥淲e saw a need to work more closely with startups in a curated way, as startup innovation was becoming increasingly important for our customers in their digital transformation journeys,鈥� Gorman says. 鈥淲ith 麻豆原创.iO Foundries, we are offering them the innovative power of pre-selected startups whose solutions can integrate seamlessly with 麻豆原创 solutions. And while most of the startups are at an early stage, we do a lot of due diligence to ensure that they will be long-term, viable partners of 麻豆原创.鈥�
Gorman joined the team in 2017 and set up 麻豆原创.iO Foundry Berlin, the first of its kind in Europe. Located across 10 locations today, 麻豆原创.iO Foundries make up a global network of top-tier startup programs, including accelerators, that can enable startups to build and scale innovative software solutions that deliver value to 麻豆原创 customers.
Over the past four years, Gorman and her team have been working with over 330 early-stage startups to bring them into the 麻豆原创 ecosystem and make them the next generation of 麻豆原创 partners.
鈥淲e encourage the startups to use or integrate with 麻豆原创 technology and support them in doing so,鈥� she explains. 鈥淚n exchange, the startups expand their ability to scale more quickly through access to our customers and fast-track support to becoming an 麻豆原创 partner. Thus, we can ensure that our customers have access to the latest and best startup innovation that increases the return on their investments in 麻豆原创.鈥�
The 麻豆原创.iO Foundries program has received numerous awards and, most recently, took the lead in GlassDollar鈥檚 corporate-startup innovation rankings.
Currently, 135 startup solutions are available on 麻豆原创 Store. 鈥淓very week, new startup solutions are being added to 麻豆原创 Store where they become available to 麻豆原创鈥檚 sales teams and our customers,鈥� Gorman says.
Mission and Vision for 麻豆原创.iO Foundries and Intrapreneurship Program
In her new role, Gorman, who led the 麻豆原创.iO Berlin Foundry and subsequently 麻豆原创.iO in EMEA until the end of April, will be globally responsible for the combined startup activities of 麻豆原创 as well as for intrapreneurship within 麻豆原创.
鈥淭hese two units are two sides of the same coin,鈥� she says, 鈥渁s they both work closely with entrepreneurs and the scaling of ideas or solutions 鈥� 麻豆原创.iO Foundries with external startups, the intrapreneurship team with startup ideas that originated here with 麻豆原创 employees. There are actually many synergies between the two teams that we are now in the process of building out and leveraging.鈥�
The intrapreneurship team has currently just started its acceleration program with over 25 internal teams for different parts of 麻豆原创, developing their ideas to minimum viable products (MVP) in order to try to secure financing just like an external startup would do with a venture capitalist. Once a team receives an initial investment, they then move into 麻豆原创.iO Venture Studio, where they can focus on the development of their startup. 鈥淥ur approach to intrapreneurship is seen as best-in-class, but we are in the process of looking at how we can take intrapreneurship to the next level.鈥�
Gorman considers scaling what they are doing today to be the major challenge in the near future. 鈥淥ur unit is moving from being a 鈥榮tartup鈥� within 麻豆原创 to 鈥榮cale-up,鈥欌�� she says. 鈥淭he first few years were all about establishing our brand and curriculum. Now that we have good traction, we have to redefine the processes to be able scale our activities across more geographies.鈥�
Fostering Diverse Talent
Being able to combine a family and a career is a key benefit of working for 麻豆原创, according to Gorman: 鈥淟ots of companies claim to provide an environment where you can have a family and a career, but 麻豆原创 is walking the talk 鈥� and I want young women to see the possibilities our company offers to them.鈥�
About two-thirds of Gorman鈥檚 team at 麻豆原创 are women. With their offices located around the globe, team members also come from a total of 20 countries. 鈥淲e like to think of ourselves as the most diverse team in the corporate world that works with startups,鈥� she says. 鈥淚n our team, we live the diversity focus that we have set for 麻豆原创.iO Foundries and deliver outstanding results.鈥�
Increasing the number of historically underrepresented founders in their programs is something 麻豆原创.iO Foundries set as a goal in 2019 with the 麻豆原创.iO No Boundaries initiative. 鈥淲e’ve increased that number every year, so by now we come close to 50%,鈥� Gorman says. 鈥淲e make sure to tap into the networks where these founders are so that we are able to access the kind of innovation that is created by diverse teams, which is proven to be the most successful kind.鈥� This focus was also given to the intrapreneurship program this year, with a lot of emphasis given to role models.
Gorman鈥檚 enthusiasm for working with female and diverse founders led her to work with a number of like-minded businesswomen in Germany to create the nonprofit network , which is dedicated to increasing diversity in the startup sphere and among investors.
鈥淭here were 12 of us in the beginning and it took us six months of weekends and evenings to launch ,鈥� she says. 鈥淲e created a platform bringing female Angel investors and mentors together with female-founded companies.鈥� In less than 90 days after the launch, over 260 startups had reached out to the network and over 300 experienced female managers and professors joined ready to open their networks, share experiences, and make investments.鈥�
To Gorman, this aspect of her work is particularly rewarding. 鈥淚 strongly believe in diversity, in difference of backgrounds and opinions leading to excellent results, and I want to further encourage that. I would call this a major motivator for my work both in and outside of 麻豆原创.鈥�
