Ecosystem of Innovation in Industry 4.0: The case of collaborations in Startups in Brazil

The article identifies how Research and Development (R&D) collaborations in startups can influence digital innovation in Brazilian manufactures. A qualitative multiple case study was performed with startups incubated at the Federation of Industries of Paraná (FIEP), through semi-structured interviews to the Chief Executive Officer (CEOs) and case document’s, applying the content analysis. The results indicate that the sources of knowledge of the startups and the collaboration with companies, universities, government development agencies and incubators, characterize the actions in the ecosystem of open innovation. It has been found that the complexity of the innovation ecosystem of startups is a strategic asset, and the nature of the collaborations is informal, coupled with a stage of maturity considered low in startups. This study contributes to highlight the nature, dynamics and progress of startup collaborations in the development of digital transformation, and the challenges for the leverage of Industry 4.0 in Brazil