Catalyzing public procurement of innovation: a typology of intermediary functions

Abstract Public procurement is increasingly recognized as a strategic lever for stimulating innovation and addressing complex societal challenges. Despite political commitment across Europe and beyond, the implementation of public procurement of innovation (PPoI) remains fraught with structural, procedural, and organizational challenges. Innovation intermediaries—actors that broker, coordinate, or facilitate innovation processes, demonstrate promise in overcoming these barriers. However, their role in procurement management is conceptually underdeveloped and empirically confined to highly complex cases. Existing studies rarely reflect the regulatory particularities of public procurement, especially its legal obligations for openness, competition, and transparency. To address this gap, this study proposes a function-based typology of innovation intermediaries, identifying six types—Networker, Mediator, Foundation Layer, Resource Orchestrator, Tendering Facilitator, and Compliance Facilitator—linked to four procurement situations: efficient, adapted, technological, and experimental. The typology improves conceptual clarity, offers practical guidance for procurement practitioners, and provides a foundation for future empirical and theoretical PPoI research.