Open Innovation Squad, UC Berkeley

What Open Innovation Squad, UC Berkeley does

Open Innovation Labs is an academic program hosted by the Institute for Business Innovation at UC Berkeley Haas School of Business, founded in 2023. It channels decades of innovation research — principally the Open Innovation framework coined by Professor Henry Chesbrough in 2003 and the Dynamic Capabilities theory pioneered by Professor David Teece — into supervised, student-led engagements where corporate clients receive consulting-style project work on real innovation challenges. The program operates as part of UC Berkeley Haas and is governed by university policy rather than as a standalone commercial entity.

The program's core product surface consists of the Open Innovation Program (teaching external/internal knowledge leverage), the Dynamic Capabilities Program (supervised by Teece, framed around competitiveness in the Age of AI), the AI for Business Graduate Certificate (a four-pillar curriculum covering technology, management, strategy, and impact), and a Research & Insights Repository publishing work on generative AI and corporate innovation. Faculty supervisors include Henry Chesbrough (130,000+ Google Scholar citations), David Teece (260,000+ citations, described as the world's most-cited business professor), and Sara Beckman.

The go-to-market is enterprise field sales through direct corporate engagement: companies sponsor project-based challenges that are staffed by 70+ Berkeley students and supervised by faculty. The program reports 15+ delivered projects, 1,400+ project hours, and a 100% returning client rate for Fall 2025, with named advisory board members from Wells Fargo, Alaska Airlines, Iberia Airlines, and CERN. Pricing is not publicly disclosed; the entity is non-commercial and funded through the university's giving infrastructure rather than equity or disclosed corporate fees.

Name

Open Innovation Squad, UC Berkeley

Legal name

Open Innovation Labs, UC Berkeley Haas

Website

https://open-innovation.berkeley.edu

Company type

Private

Founded year

2023

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

Open Innovation Labs is an academic program at UC Berkeley Haas that delivers student-led corporate innovation projects supervised by pioneering faculty, including Henry Chesbrough (Open Innovation) and David Teece (Dynamic Capabilities).

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Innovation Consulting Services

NAICS

Colleges, Universities, and Professional Schools (611310), Scientific Research and Development Services (5417)

SIC

Services-Educational Services (8200), Services-Management Consulting Services (8742)

akta.pro primary industry

Technical Universities with Strong Industry Partnerships (EDAHAEAG)

akta.pro secondary industry

Technical Universities with Entrepreneurship & Incubation Focus (EDAHAEAH)

Keywords

• Innovation consulting services
• Corporate innovation programs
• Open innovation framework
• Dynamic capabilities training
• Academic research programs

Headquarters

HQ city

Berkeley

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Technology or R&D, Marketing or Sales

Revenue model

1. Corporate Project Engagements: Companies engage Open Innovation Labs for student-led innovation projects, with 100% returning clients rate indicating sustained corporate partnerships

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels1 record

Marketing channels3 records

Core offering

Open Innovation Labs is an academic program at UC Berkeley Haas that engages corporate clients through project-based innovation engagements. Student teams, supervised by world-renowned faculty, apply proven frameworks — notably the Open Innovation Framework (Chesbrough) and the Dynamic Capabilities Framework (Teece) — to real-world corporate challenges. The program has delivered 15+ projects with 70+ students, accumulating 1,400+ hours, and reports a 100% returning client rate.

Product overview

Open Innovation Labs is a unified academic program at UC Berkeley Haas that channels decades of proven academic wisdom through supervised programs. The program consists of the core Open Innovation Labs platform, the Dynamic Capabilities Program supervised by Professor David Teece, the AI for Business Graduate Certificate spanning technology, management, strategy, and impact pillars, the Open Innovation Program teaching external knowledge leverage, and a Research & Insights Repository containing academic research on innovation practices and AI reshaping corporate innovation.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Open Innovation Labs The core academic program at UC Berkeley Haas that channels decades of proven academic wisdom through supervised programs where students study, apply, and manage practical academic frameworks directly from pioneers in innovation research.
• Dynamic Capabilities Program A program supervised by Professor David Teece helping firms stay innovative and competitive in the Age of AI by applying methods to build and reconfigure internal and external competences.
• Open Innovation Program

Quantifiable outcome

• 15+ projects delivered, 1,400+ hours invested, 100% client return rate

Named customers4 records

Segments1 record

Ideal customer profiles1 record

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature2 records

Partnerships

Five partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.

• Institute for Business InnovationcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerOpen Innovation Labs is hosted by the Institute for Business Innovation at UC Berkeley Haas, which disseminates pioneering research on innovation and trains students to be inventive and entrepreneurial leaders.
• Wells FargominorStrategic or Co-development PartnerHead of Emerging Tech Partnerships and Innovation Jazz Samra serves on the Open Innovation Advisory Board
• Alaska AirlinesminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerDirector of Innovation Bernadette Berger serves on the Open Innovation Advisory Board
• Iberia AirlinesminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerHead of Innovation, Design & Research Martin Beitia serves on the Open Innovation Advisory Board
• CERNminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerVenture Connect Program Lead Linn Kretzschmar serves on the Open Innovation Advisory Board

Scale indicators4 records

Recent moves1 record

Expansion highlights5 records

Direct peers

• Harvard Business School Executive Education: Premier executive-education and innovation-research provider anchored by globally recognized faculty. Competes for the same Fortune 500 corporate innovation-program budgets and senior-executive learners.
• Stanford Graduate School of Business: Peer business school with the d.school and Stanford GSB executive education programs focused on innovation and entrepreneurship. Closest direct academic peer given Bay Area proximity and overlapping corporate-client base.
• MIT Sloan School of Management: Top-tier business school running executive education and innovation research programs (e.g., MIT Center for Collective Intelligence, Sloan Fellows). Directly comparable to UC Berkeley Haas as an academic hub for innovation frameworks and corporate engagement.
• INSEAD: Global business school with strong executive-education and innovation-management offerings; directly competes for multinational corporate clients seeking academic-led innovation consulting and training.
• Wharton School (University of Pennsylvania): Top-ranked business school with executive education and innovation/entrepreneurship programs. Competes head-to-head for corporate open-innovation and strategic-capabilities engagements.
• Chicago Booth (University of Chicago): Top-tier business school with executive education and the Rustandy Center for Social Sector Innovation. Competes with Haas for academic-led corporate innovation engagements and executive learners.

Regional players

• Imperial College Business School: European business school with innovation and entrepreneurship executive programs serving a primarily non-U.S. corporate audience; thematically comparable to Open Innovation Labs' open-innovation frameworks but operating in a different geography.

Broad incumbents

• McKinsey & Company: Global management consultancy with deep innovation, R&D, and growth practices serving Fortune 500 clients. Represents the dominant commercial alternative for the same corporate open-innovation mandates.
• Deloitte Consulting (Strategy & Innovation practice): Large consultancy with a dedicated innovation practice helping enterprises redesign R&D, partnerships, and corporate venturing. Competes for the same enterprise open-innovation budgets as a commercial alternative to the academic model.
• BCG Henderson Institute: BCG's think-tank arm publishing research on innovation, AI, and business strategy. Comparable to Open Innovation Labs' Research & Insights Repository but backed by a global consulting firm with deeper enterprise relationships.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat3 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/BerkeleyHaas
• YouTubeyoutube.com/BerkeleyHaas
• Facebookfacebook.com/BerkeleyHaas
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/open-innovation-squad
• Instagraminstagram.com/BerkeleyHaas

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles3 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Open Innovation Squad, UC Berkeley