KPMG ranked one of the top corporates in Europe for work with startups
KPMG was awarded 11th place, the highest ranking of a professional services firm, in the prestigious 25 Corporate Startup Stars awards, the first ranking of exemplary big businesses working closely with startups, led by Nesta and the Startup Europe Partnership (SEP).
The awards which were held in Berlin, were given to large businesses who were ranked according to their level of engagement with startups and judged by an expert panel that included Sherry Coutu, angel investor and author of The Scale-up Report and Bart Clarysse, entrepreneur and Chair in Entrepreneurship at Imperial College, London.
KPMG has a number of programmes in place to mentor, support and connect with early stage and small businesses. The firm has had a Tech Growth team working in Shoreditch since 2012 which hosts a variety of initiatives and events, including pitching sessions, matchmaking events between KPMG’s startup and corporate clients, and an annual ‘Best British Mobile Startup Competition.’ In addition the firm has a number of strong networks and alliances with groups such as Enterprise Nation, the Mayors’ International Business Programme and Entrepreneurial Sparks – the world’s largest free business accelerator for early stage and growing ventures. The firm is a sponsor of the Enactus World Cup, a global competition for university students to showcase commercially-run community projects and staff across the firm are actively encouraged to get involved with mentoring early stage businesses via any of the partnerships they have in place.
KPMG’s work in supporting early stage businesses can be seen in their strategic alliance with the software provider Xero to offer startups affordable accountancy services. An advisory partnership, with matchmaking platform Matchi, is also helping to connect KPMG’s largest clients with the “right fintech.
”Jonathan Roomer from KPMG’s Tech Growth team was in Berlin to accept the award and said:
“We are delighted to be named in this list and to be recognised for the contribution that we are making to the startup community. As a business we strongly advocate the benefits to the UK economy as a whole when big business and small business collaborate well together and the role we have to play within the startup ecosystem.
“The UK has a startup community that is unrivalled anywhere else in Europe, but scaling those businesses to bigger companies is vital to our economy. It is important that we encourage more big businesses to see value in engaging with smaller companies and turning ideas into commercial and mutually beneficial reality.”
Chris Haley, Head of Startups and New Technology Research at Nesta, added
“I would like to congratulate KPMG for making it to this list and for the host of programmes that they have on offer to support the startup community in the UK.
“Many corporates now acknowledge the competitive advantage of working with startups and pride themselves on their ability to collaborate effectively. Showcasing the myriad ways that these relationships are fostered, and the benefits that result, will open entrepreneurs’ eyes to the potential and we hope, encourage other corporates to consider similar collaboration.”
The launch of Europe’s 25 Corporate Startup Stars follows a new partnership between SEP and The European Trade Association for Business Angels to help provide the ‘missing link’ for corporates and startups working together.
Source: KPMG
