Inter-firm cooperation from the perspective of startups present in innovation environments in Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil

Abstract The article aims to investigate the main inter-firm cooperation relationships (ICRs) established by startups present in Innovation Environments (IEs) in the state of Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil. The elected methodology was a survey carried out through a questionnaire administered by researchers. Procedures associated with descriptive statistics of data and statistical tests were used as the research technique. Of the 77% of startups that cooperate, 70% interact with companies outside IEs. The chi-square test of independence showed that there is no association between the number of ICRs and whether cooperation takes place inside or outside IEs. The regionalized character of innovation loses strength and gives way to networked organization.