FrenchTechSH Connect returned on November 20th in a warm and familiar setting, hosted this time at the EcoGreenEnergy offices, home to the Vice-President of La French Tech Shanghai. The evening gathered a mix of founders, corporate leaders, researchers and innovators who came to explore a question that is becoming central in Shanghai’s tech landscape: how can startups and corporates innovate together without slowing each other down. The session began with a keynote by Professor Shameen Prashantham from CEIBS, known for his research on corporate–startup partnerships and his book Gorillas Can Dance. His framework set the tone for a conversation that later unfolded through a lively panel featuring PepsiCo, Pernod Ricard and Kehu.
The Keynote: Understanding Why, How and Where Partnership Happens
Professor Prashantham opened with a simple but powerful idea: corporates and startups look very different, but they need each other. Corporates have scale, resources and legitimacy. Startups bring agility, creativity and the ability to move fast. On paper it should be the perfect match, but in reality the differences that attract them are the same ones that make collaboration complicated.
He broke this down into three types of asymmetry. Goals differ because corporates focus on stability while startups focus on rapid growth. Structures differ because one side runs on processes and the other runs on experimentation. Attention differs because corporates have multiple priorities and startups have only one: survival. These asymmetries explain why collaboration is full of promise and full of friction at the same time.
The good news is that partnering can be learned. Professor Prashantham walked the audience through the idea of building a capability around three elements: synergy, interface and exemplar. In practice this means creating clear mutual value, putting in place practical mechanisms to work together and then showcasing successful projects internally. He showed examples from Microsoft’s long journey of startup partnerships, Pernod Ricard’s Ask Jerry Challenge and PepsiCo’s Greenhouse Accelerator, all illustrating how global companies eventually figure out what works in different regions.
He ended with a point that resonated strongly with the audience. Innovation is global and geography matters. China requires flexibility, experimentation and sometimes separate teams or entities to make partnerships work. When done well, these collaborations do not just generate business results. They often contribute directly to sustainability goals and wider social impact.
With this conceptual roadmap in mind, the room shifted into the panel discussion.
The Panel: Turning Ideas into Practice
The panel brought together Dr. Leyla Boumghar-Bourtchai from PepsiCo, Vincent Meliet from Pernod Ricard China and Thomas Morisset, co-founder of Kehu. Each offered a different perspective on what actually happens inside these partnerships once the theory meets the real world.
Dr. Boumghar-Bourtchai started with the corporate view. Large companies are powerful because of their size, but that same size slows them down. Markets, especially in consumer goods and beauty, transform quickly. If corporates do not reinvent themselves, the market will do it for them. Startups help push internal transformation by bringing speed and ideas that corporates cannot generate alone.
Vincent Meliet followed with an example from Pernod Ricard. He explained that most of the highly specialised ideas they need do not come from within the company. They come from small, focused teams with very particular expertise. EcoSpirit is a good example. The startup approached Pernod Ricard after hearing the company speak about its ESG roadmap. The alignment was obvious and the collaboration became possible because both sides recognised the shared value immediately.
Thomas Morisset brought the founder’s perspective. Kehu was born partly from chance and partly from a desire to build something meaningful around human interactions. For him, working with corporates is a way to scale that vision. But he also emphasised that even the most technical solutions require trust, consistency and human relationships. Digital innovation still succeeds through people.
How Collaboration Really Works Behind the Scenes
What became clear across the conversation is that open innovation is as much cultural as it is technical. Vincent highlighted that every successful collaboration he has seen at Pernod Ricard started with building trust and being extremely clear about internal expectations. Startups that understand the corporate strategy and speak in the language of KPIs stand out immediately.
Dr. Boumghar-Bourtchai explained that PepsiCo’s approach goes beyond isolated pilots. Her team works on integrating startups into the company network, connecting them to the right people, involving multiple departments and ensuring everyone understands why the partnership matters. In beauty and FMCG, suppliers also play an important role. Sometimes startups enter the corporate ecosystem through them, creating an innovation chain rather than a direct partnership.
Thomas added that founders must balance ambition with patience. Working with a corporate opens doors, but it also requires navigating complex processes and proving reliability at every stage.
A Community That Keeps Growing
The community spirit really came alive after the panel. The space filled with a lively mix of founders, corporate leaders, researchers, young professionals and more seasoned innovators, all chatting together as if they had known each other for years. The blend of generations gave the whole evening a vibrant, dynamic rhythm, with people swapping stories, comparing experiences and discovering unexpected common ground.
The generously stocked buffet and cocktails. courtesy of Pernod Ricard and PepsiCo, added an extra spark of conviviality to the evening and helped set the tone, creating a relaxed moment where everyone could enjoy something to eat, grab a drink and continue the conversation in a good-vibes-only mood. It was one of those nights where you can genuinely feel the ecosystem growing, connecting and becoming stronger with every event.
Final Notes
This edition of FrenchTechSH Connect offered a rare combination of academic clarity and practical honesty. The keynote framed the challenge, the panel grounded it in reality and the audience engaged with it enthusiastically. FrenchTechSH Connect will return soon with more conversations that connect people, ideas and opportunities across Shanghai’s innovation ecosystem. Stay tuned !
