This master thesis compares the theory regarding open innovation in large companies with empirical studies on small companies inside an incubator. For small companies as a collective as well as Sweden as a nation it is of utter importance to strive to increase growth as well as give more ideas commercial traction. Focus has been to evaluate existing knowledge, structures and processes from large companies, to decide what could be adopted and applied to the small company in an incubator environment. We do not seek to define a complete innovation model, for any specific type of case company, nor generalise among all small companies, but rather study general guidelines to understand how open innovation methods could be applied to the broad spectra of small innovative companies.

Open innovation is a broad topic and has evolved over the years regarding areas where it is applicable. Based on relevant theories and empirical data, a model on how to use open innovation to small companies has been proposed. By applying this model in an incubator environment, it could be possible to take advantage of the practices offered by open innovation in large companies, while still benefiting from being small.

By usage of a qualitative analysis method, this thesis formed theories, through the research of a narrow field of interest with a focus on deep exploratory research.