5G Open Innovation Lab recruiting start-ups focused on enterprise innovation and 5G-enabled services
The 5G Open Innovation Lab (5G OI Lab) announced it will close its recruiting window on January 22, 2021 for its 3rd batch of early- and later-stage start-ups with a focus on enterprise innovation and 5G-enabled services.
The Lab is seeking Seed and Series A to Series C companies serving diverse markets including agriculture, energy, entertainment, logistics, manufacturing, mining, space and satellite technology and transportation.
Said Jim Brisimitzis, General Partner of the 5G Open Innovation Lab, “Our program is a catalyst for applied innovation bridging hands-on collaboration between our companies and Partners to push new enterprise capabilities enabled by future 5G network connectivity and edge compute.
“We are working with amazing companies to create innovative solutions with which our Partners can collaborate and collectively learn from. Given our no equity approach, we’ve enjoyed the opportunity to work with Seed to Series C companies. The average raise per company across Batch #1 and #2 is $3.2M and climbing.”
The 5G Innovation Lab has been targeting and attracting later-stage companies that are both capitalized and have established recurring revenue streams from their product portfolio. The Lab has become a “path to the enterprise” for technology companies that have typically focused on core network and cloud solutions.
Member companies are run by experienced executives which is also driving investor interest. As an example, the Fall 2020 Investor Day attracted 65 new venture capital and investment firms resulting in more than 120 brokered introductions and meetings with engagement rates of 80 percent.
The Lab managed its first Spring and Fall programs in 2020 with 32 companies participating and the strategic and financial support of founding and corporate partners Amdocs, Dell Technologies, F5, Intel, Microsoft, NASA, T-Mobile and VMware.
Partners provide engineering, technology, mentorship and industry resources to founders and their companies to help them develop, test and bring to market new use cases that unleash the potential of 5G networks and edge computing.
The Lab does not take an equity position in the start-up companies, rather, companies collaborate with 5G technology experts and business advisors through CEO and CTO roundtables, private working sessions, virtual networking and social events, and opportunities to meet with the Lab’s extensive partner network of venture capital firms.