The media group Sky launched its innovation program Play in 2016. Now, the Unterföhring-based company has surprisingly discontinued the incubator.
Play was aimed at both external and internal applicants with a business idea. Sky helped them develop a prototype or an MVP (Minimum Viable Product). This is now over. The innovation program's website simply states:
"We have decided to end the program at the end of 2017. Since its launch in summer 2016, numerous excellent and creative ideas have been generated. Some of these are already being successfully implemented and used in practice. After numerous extremely positive experiences with Play over the past year and a half, Sky has now decided to develop ideas with innovative potential in a modified internal framework at the national and, where appropriate, group-wide, European level."
According to the Business Week Play employed seven people and had a budget in the single-digit millions. From a total of 200 submitted ideas, 13 concrete projects matured. Nine projects were further developed into initial market tests.
Other corporates are also testing different models
Sky is not the first company to rethink its startup activities. Telefónica recently announced a relaunch of its accelerator WayraThe electronics retailer MediaMarkt Saturn has closed its accelerator MS Spacelab — only to together with Plug and Play to open the Retailtech Hub.
