THE SIMPLE PARTNERSHIP AGREEMENT (SiPA)
The project contract is one of the most complex, most fragile elements of corporate-startup partnerships. SiPA can help!
For startups: Save time and money by using SiPA as your in-house project contract to kickstart negotiations with corporates. Focus your precious legal dollars on strategic clauses!
For corporations: Working with a promising startup can return many benefits, from gaining a foothold in a new market to gaining a valuable partner, or eventually an acquisition. Use SiPA to keep your startup partner at the table and satisfy your internal stakeholders at the same time.
To learn more about SiPA, how we created it, how it works and why you should use it, download our white paper.
Downloadable SiPA templates
Activate and global law firm DLA Piper created the SiPA templates—agreements that offer a simplified approach to structuring early projects between startups and established partners. SiPA templates allow each partner to identify risks while also highlighting potential for value creation.
Conventional Collaborations vs. SiPA
In the traditional pathway, partners spend 6-18 months trying to identify the right format of engagement, the right legal governing contract, and prematurely negotiate advanced terms. The SiPA templates offer a simplified approach to structuring early projects.
How Does It Work?
Identify a central question you need to answer around the risks and opportunities of the proposed relationship, e.g, what do you need to see before committing more resources to a longer partnership?
Identify a minimum viable experiment to de-risk the relationship and answer that question.
Structure that first engagement as a purchase order or service agreement, using SiPA templates.
Structure
These SiPA templates have been designed around two common corporate approval pathways for early contracts and can be used together, consecutively, or individually depending on the organization’s needs.
Option 1: Go through Procurement. Use the SiPA Quote, a brief contract designed to use stand-alone or attach to a purchase order.
Option 2: Go through Legal. The SiPA Service Agreement is a service contract designed for corporate legal teams to quickly digest.
We welcome your feedback, please use contact form below.
What To Do Next
Corporates and startups have already initiated collaborations using the SiPA framework. Is your organization looking to either deploy a pilot project or host one to evaluate new technology?
For Corporates: Signal to startups that you are committed to reducing barriers in working with them to get promising technology to market faster by employing a SiPA. Get started right away by sharing the SiPA templates with your legal department. And don’t hesitate to contact us for guidance on how to use SiPA in your startup engagement strategy.
For Startups: Use a SiPA to jumpstart a collaboration with a target corporate partner- download the templates above.
For Investors/Accelerators/Incubators: Arm your portfolio companies with SiPA as they go out to partner with industry. Download for immediate use with your partners. Reach out to Activate to learn about collaborating on a SiPA workshop/webinar for your companies.
What the Innovation Ecosystem Says About SiPA
“SiPA got us started on the right foot. Now we have developed a contract process that’s friendly to both sides.”
Tong Wang, corporate innovation and startup partnerships, Schaeffler
“We love the SiPA for our feasibility studies: 2-4 week paid projects to investigate what our technology can do for partners. The SiPA is a friendly and quick agreement that even Fortune 100 partners can get behind, and its ease eliminates time-consuming and expensive legal iterations for these early partnerships. It truly is our ‘go-to’ umbrella agreement.”
Grayson Zulauf, CEO, Resonant Link
“It's good to be able to take a vetted agreement to our partner, rather than being served one!”
Kevin Kung, CEO, Takachar
Read more in Innovation Leader
Cracking the Contract Conundrum