PurposeAmbidextrous firms manage exploration and exploitation intra-organizationally while their strategic interaction with various entities (like universities, venture capitalists etc.) help them develop new technologies, innovative products and processes to build ambidextrous clusters. This creates a platform for open innovation, spinoffs and start-ups regionally for effective handling of financial constraints through synergies and complementarities. So far open innovation has mostly been documented from the context of the focal firm. The paper explores open innovation paradigm from the context of innovative cluster initiatives investigating on how the R&D processes and external value chains are organized, the concerned organizational modes and governance mechanism, and their revenue generation alternatives – thus rendering a business model perspective. The inter-organizational governance also gives an ambidexterity view in terms of management of innovation dynamics and value chain design.Design/methodology/approachTwo SME-based textile cluster initiatives are investigated. Suitable business cases are chosen to conduct qualitative analyses. Data is evaluated from both primary and secondary sources. FindingsFindings show the possibilities of new business model generation in an open innovation paradigm, beyond that of the focal firms. Both the cluster initiatives, Smart Textiles and Clutex, are similar in their funding arrangements and extent of industrial linkages. Differences exist in the governance structures of the innovation value chains. The initiatives in Sweden are mostly driven by single entities while in Czech Republic they are co-managed by a consortium partnership sharing common interest. From the business model perspective, Smart Textiles has multiple roles either as a ‘value creator’, or as service provider, or as an ‘incubator’. Clutex is more of a chartered consortium.Research implications/limitationsThe research shows the possibilities of new business model generation (apart from that of the focal firm’s) in governing open innovation in collaborative clusters embodying Ferrary’s concept of “ambidextrous clusters”.Practical implications and ValueExploring ambidextrous architectures of innovation value chain and their governance in various clusters in describing collaborative business models can add novelty for many matured and transforming industries as source of competitive advantage and performance improvement through business model innovation.