Innovation & Startup Scouting - Third Party Payroll

ContractKen Inc.; Bengaluru; On-site; INR 900,000 - 1,300,000; Full time

Job summary

ContractKen Inc. in Bengaluru seeks a proactive professional to support innovation programmes, startup scouting, technology research, and enterprise–startup engagement.

You will identify relevant startups, evaluate solutions, and coordinate ecosystem relationships to drive innovation challenges and pilot programmes. The role involves preparing structured startup profiles, trend reports, and briefing notes for senior stakeholders and clients, while tracking market trends and facilitating

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s or master’s degree in business, technology, innovation, entrepreneurship, or related discipline.
• Experience in startup scouting, innovation consulting, market research, accelerator programmes, venture building, or ecosystem management.
• Strong research, analytical, and written communication skills.
• Ability to evaluate technology-led businesses and translate research into clear, decision-ready insights.
• Strong stakeholder coordination and project-management capabilities.
• Comfortable working with startups, enterprise leaders, and cross-functional teams.
• Proficiency in Microsoft PowerPoint and Excel; familiarity with startup databases and research platforms would be advantageous.
• Self-driven, detail-oriented, and able to manage multiple priorities in a fast-paced environment.

Responsibilities

• Identify, research, and shortlist startups aligned with defined business challenges, technology themes, and priorities.
• Evaluate startups across technology, founding team, traction, market fit, enterprise readiness, and scalability.
• Prepare structured startup profiles, assessments, trend reports, and briefing notes for senior stakeholders.
• Build and maintain relationships with startups, accelerators, incubators, academic institutions, investors, and ecosystem partners.
• Track emerging technologies, funding activity, competitor developments, and market trends.
• Maintain startup pipelines and technology intelligence trackers, ensuring information remains current and actionable.
• Support startup outreach, introductory discussions, due-diligence calls, and follow-up communication.
• Coordinate client meetings, startup showcases, demo sessions, scouting sprints, innovation challenges, and demo days.
• Prepare presentation decks, meeting materials, status reports, pipeline updates, and leadership documentation.
• Track startup engagement and pilot progress, including milestones, actions, risks, and documentation.
• Coordinate with legal, procurement, finance, and internal stakeholders to support startup onboarding and pilot execution.
• Collaborate with cross-functional teams to develop scouting methodologies, evaluation frameworks, playbooks, and process documentation

Skills

Research & analysis

Written communication

Stakeholder coordination

Project management

Startup evaluation

Cross-functional collaboration

Detail-oriented

Multitasking

Education

Bachelor's or Master's in Business/Tech/Innovation

Tools

PowerPoint

Excel

Startup databases

Research platforms

Job description

Innovation & Startup Scouting - Third Party Payroll

We are seeking a proactive professional to support innovation programmes, startup scouting, technology research, and enterprise–startup engagement. The role involves identifying relevant startups, evaluating emerging solutions, coordinating ecosystem relationships, and supporting innovation challenges and pilot programmes.

Reporting To: Lead - Innovation & Startup Scouting

Basic Functions/ Job Responsibility

• Identify, research, and shortlist startups aligned with defined business challenges, technology themes, and strategic priorities.
• Evaluate startups across parameters such as technology, founding team, traction, market fit, enterprise readiness, and scalability.
• Prepare structured startup profiles, comparative assessments, trend reports, and briefing notes for senior stakeholders and clients.
• Build and maintain relationships with startups, accelerators, incubators, academic institutions, investors, and other ecosystem partners.
• Track emerging technologies, funding activity, competitor developments, and relevant market trends.
• Maintain startup pipelines and technology intelligence trackers, ensuring that information remains current and actionable.
• Support startup outreach, introductory discussions, due-diligence calls, and follow-up communication.
• Coordinate client meetings, startup showcases, demo sessions, scouting sprints, innovation challenges, and demo days.
• Prepare presentation decks, meeting materials, status reports, pipeline updates, and documentation for leadership and steering committee reviews.
• Track startup engagement and pilot progress, including key milestones, actions, risks, and documentation.
• Coordinate with legal, procurement, finance, and internal stakeholders to support startup onboarding and pilot execution.
• Collaborate with cross-functional teams to develop scouting methodologies, evaluation frameworks, playbooks, and process documentation

Knowledge, Skills, Qualifications, Experience

• Bachelor’s or master’s degree in business, technology, innovation, entrepreneurship, or a related discipline.
• Relevant experience in startup scouting, innovation consulting, market research, accelerator programmes, venture building, or ecosystem management.
• Strong research, analytical, and written communication skills.
• Ability to evaluate technology-led businesses and translate research into clear, decision-ready insights.
• Strong stakeholder coordination and project-management capabilities.
• Comfortable working with startups, enterprise leaders, and cross-functional teams.
• Proficiency in Microsoft PowerPoint and Excel; familiarity with startup databases and research platforms would be advantageous.
• Self-driven, detail-oriented, and able to manage multiple priorities in a fast-paced environment.