Incumbents’ and start-ups’ perception of each other,¹ %
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There is room within the entire chain for more collaboration, as both incumbents and start-ups view each other as potential partners.
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Incumbents and start-ups view each other as potential partners more often than as competitors.
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Start-ups take a slightly more competitive view toward incumbents.
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Incumbents' and start-ups' perception of each other,¹ %
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Interests are most aligned within circularity of plastics, which requires orchestration of the
entire value chain.
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Incumbents are most interested in partnering with start-ups for AI-assisted chemical discovery, primarily due to lack of internal capabilities.
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Incumbents
Start-ups
¹
Q: “How do you typically view established chemical players across each innovation theme?” Refers to the percentage of time a response was indicated as a top-three response. Only start-ups that selected the theme as an area of focus and incumbents that selected the theme as a top-three important theme were accounted for.
Source: Innovation survey in the chemicals sector 2022 (North America), McKinsey, 2022
McKinsey & Company
