Case Study: GELITA AG achieves scalable, faster start-up scouting and lower risk with HYPE Innovation

GELITA AG creates a scalable startup scouting process with HYPE Partnering

GELITA AG, a family-owned global leader in collagen proteins founded in 1875, needed to expand its innovation pipeline beyond internal R&D to stay competitive. The company lacked experience in external scouting and required a scalable process to define partnership requirements, attract high-quality start-ups (targeting ~20 applications), and enable local scouts across the US, Mexico, Brazil, Germany and New Zealand to find region-specific solutions.

Using HYPE Partnering’s end-to-end platform and expert team, GELITA co-created an ideal start‑up profile, screened 1,500+ companies down to 362 matches, and ran targeted outreach that produced 31 relevant applications. The platform enabled local scouts to operate independently, HYPE handled ~95% of start-up inquiries, and GELITA advanced six finalists—two of which moved to partnership discussions for pilot projects—while substantially increasing scouting efficiency and lowering time, cost and risk.

GELITA AG

Michael Metzmaier

Head Of Corporate Development