Novable
Novable is an AI-powered technology platform that enables startup and innovation scouting. The platform aims to provide a client-focused methodology for innovat...
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What is Novable?
Novable is an AI‑powered corporate venturing and open‑innovation platform that helps large organizations discover and engage with innovative startups and emerging companies for partnerships, collaborations, and investments. It provides a centralized environment where innovation teams can run scouting campaigns, obtain validated company lists, and receive benchmarks and expert‑driven reports tailored to their strategic themes and markets.
The platform draws from a database of over 4 million innovative companies and uses activity‑based signals (not just keywords) to surface high‑quality, relevant matches. Its proprietary AI engine, supported by human experts, shortens the time from initial search to actionable leads while filtering out noise and low‑fit candidates.
Novable is designed for corporate innovation offices, open‑innovation teams, strategy departments, and venture arms that need to accelerate technology scouting, portfolio development, and market‑landscape mapping. It fits organizations in sectors such as energy, mobility, healthcare, telecom, and consumer goods that want to systematically explore external technologies and startups aligned with their transformation and growth agendas.
Novable pricing
Pricing model: Free
Novable operates on an enterprise, subscription‑based model tailored to each client’s needs, with yearly plans offered for corporate innovation teams and venturing programs; there is no explicit free tier visible on the public homepage, and specific pricing details (including monthly or annual amounts, feature limits, and seat counts) are not published directly but are provided through a consultation or demo request with the Novable team.
Novable pros
- AI‑powered startup scouting across 4 million+ innovative companies
- Activity‑based matching beyond simple keyword searches
- Access to startups across 185 countries
- DeepMatching technology for high‑quality candidate ranking
- Expert‑validated company lists before delivery
- Detailed benchmarking and comparison reports within 2 days
- Dedicated Novable Expert support per campaign
- Chat‑style interface with Scott, the startup scouting AI expert
- Outreach and introductions managed by the Novable team
- Corporate Venturing Framework™ to shape a structured venturing strategy
- High satisfaction rate reported by clients (around 97%)
- Reduces months of manual research to days or hours
- Supports multiple use cases: partnerships, M&A, CVC, and proof‑of‑concept scouting
- Iterative campaigns that refine results over a few hours
- User‑friendly platform with clear workflows and dashboards
Novable cons
- Enterprise‑oriented; may be overkill for very small businesses or individual researchers
- No self‑service pricing page visible on the website, requiring sales contact
- Limited public visibility around detailed feature configuration and limits
- Geared toward recurring corporate‑venturing programs rather than one‑off projects
- No clear indication of free tier or trial structure on the public homepage
- Dependencies on Novable experts may slow processes if teams are overloaded
- No explicit support for fully automated inward‑facing startup portals or public challenges
- Limited public documentation on customization, API, and integrations
Frequently asked questions about Novable
What is Novable and who is it for?
Novable is an AI‑powered corporate venturing and open‑innovation platform that connects large organizations with startups and emerging companies for partnerships, collaborations, and investments. It is designed for corporate innovation teams, open‑innovation managers, strategy and R&D departments, and venture arms that need fast, high‑quality scouting aligned with their strategic goals.
How does Novable find the right startups for me?
Novable uses an AI‑driven scouting engine that scans over 4 million innovative companies and applies activity‑based signals to shortlist candidates matching your specific theme, technology, and market. Its DeepMatching technology goes beyond keywords by analyzing actual company activities, then a Novable expert validates the list and refines it to maximize relevance and fit for your program.
Is there a free trial or demo available?
Novable offers a free consultation and personalized demo where a Novable Expert walks you through the platform, runs a sample scouting campaign, and shows how it can be tailored to your needs; the website emphasizes booking a free consultation to see Novable in action, but it does not advertise a generic, self‑service free trial account.
Do I get expert support or is it only a SaaS tool?
Novable combines a SaaS platform with a full‑service expert layer: for each campaign, a Novable Expert helps frame the search, validates the resulting company list, delivers benchmarking reports, and supports outreach and introductions, making it more than a pure self‑serve tool and closer to a managed scouting service.
How long does it take to get my first list of startups?
Novable aims to deliver validated lists and benchmarking reports within a maximum of two days after scoping the campaign; users can iterate quickly with feedback, often refining highly relevant candidates in just a couple of hours of combined work, replacing months of manual research.
What kind of industries and themes can Novable support?
Novable supports a wide range of themes and industries, including mobility, energy, healthcare, MedTech, retail, telecom, consumer goods, supply‑chain digitization, and emerging technologies such as NFTs or niche digital solutions; its 4 million+ startup database spans over 185 countries and is continuously updated to reflect evolving innovation landscapes.
How does the Corporate Venturing Framework™ work?
The Corporate Venturing Framework™ is Novable’s methodology to align your corporate venturing and innovation scouting with your organization’s strategic objectives; it helps you define innovation themes, target maturity stages, and expected outcomes, then translates these into structured scouting campaigns and metrics on the platform.
Can Novable help with outreach and introductions to startups?
Yes, Novable provides outreach support: once your preferred companies are identified, the Novable team can help manage outreach, facilitate introductions, and coordinate first discussions with the startups, reducing the internal workload for your innovation and partnership teams.
How is Novable different from other startup databases or scouting tools?
Novable positions itself as an end‑to‑end corporate venturing platform rather than a simple database, combining AI‑driven scouting, expert validation, benchmarking reports, and outreach support; its focus on activity‑based matching and tight integration with corporate‑venturing frameworks aims to deliver higher‑quality, fewer, but more relevant candidates compared to broader, keyword‑only platforms.
Is Novable suitable for one‑off projects or should it be used as a long‑term program?
While Novable can be used for one‑off projects or specific themes, it is designed to be most effective as a recurring corporate‑innovation program: successive campaigns, iterative refinement, and ongoing expert support help build a robust pipeline of partners and continuously update your view of the innovation landscape around your organization.