COLLABORATIVE INNOVATION

Set up a strong innovation ecosystem

Ignoring collaborative innovation does not lead to new opportunities and fresh ideas

Run a variety of
collaboration programs

Co-create new
transformative innovations

Collaborate with the
best-in-class startups

The future is shaped by networked value creation

Achieving any worthwhile goal depends on the ability of multiple interconnected actors to work collectively.

This includes individual entrepreneurs, universities, the private sector, civil society, government, and others. The players whose collective activity produces a development outcome is called an “innovation ecosystem.”

The most interesting opportunities may lie between organizations. Tapping into them will require a collaborative approach. Companies must operate in an open ecosystem to remain relevant in the future and successfully execute innovation. Are you asking yourself, “How might we scale by leveraging the combined strengths and weaknesses of our organizations? How can we attract the best talents and partners on our innovation projects needed for sustained growth?”

What if you had an experienced facilitator to take a broader, more systematic approach to building your organization’s innovation capability?

At Venture Factory, we bring you together with the right partners and help you to successfully shape the future by leveraging our extensive network of start-ups, university researchers, corporates, investors, experts, and other potential innovation partners.

With experienced coaches, a clear and well-structured process, and visual outreach tools, we can help you:

We’ll help you optimally position in the innovation & startup ecosystems

We help companies establish structures and processes to connect successfully with ecosystem stakeholders to achieve successful collaborative and breakthrough innovation. If you neglect more ambitious forms of innovation, the outcome will be a steady decline in business and relevance to your customers.

Let's start working together.

Schedule a FREE 30-minute strategy session

Discuss your goals, challenges and solutions

Strengthen your collaborative
innovation programs

Collaborative innovation support is built on our 20+ years of business design & ecosystem building experience

We have successfully supported a number of corporate innovation teams, as well as several 100 startup teams in making connections and innovation activities in the ecosystem. We have developed the PODIM conference into a leading startup and tech platform in the CEE region and built a global network of startups, experts and partners across various industries. Learn more about us here.

We offer you end-to-end innovation services

Workshops &
trainings

We design and facilitate workshops to support collaborative innovation.

They are ideal for innovation teams that want to create breakthrough innovations in a systematic and efficient way in collaboration with partner organisations. We help collaborating teams identify their shared strengths and potentials and design new value propositions and business models to concretize their strategic vision and gain an advantage over their competitors through collaborative innovation.

“Innovation Ecosystem Codesign Sprint to Design Innovation Programs for Open Innovation” 6 hours (includes multiple breaks) – can be held in one day or split evenly over two days

“Joint Venture Design” 6 hours (includes multiple breaks) – can be held in one day or split evenly over two days

“How to Design Innovation Programs and Innovation Culture?” 4 hours (includes breaks)

“Innovation Ecosystem Assessment to Get a Detailed Picture of Your Innovation Readiness” 4 hours (includes breaks)

Workshops and trainings are based on a proven design & innovation methodology. They can be 100% remote and organized digitally or physically at Venture Factory, a brand-new creative space designed to co-innovate and accelerate.

  • Sync call before the workshop to start with a clear and solid understanding of your company and your innovation partners, as well as the context and objectives of collaborative innovation.
  • We help you to map your innovation culture & portfolio and identify current strengths, weaknesses, and potential blind spots.
  • Using the Ecosystem Map, we map out all the innovation programs on two axes, Value creation (i.e., revenue/profit) and Culture change (i.e., structure/processes).
  • Codesign a blueprint of your future innovation ecosystem.
  • Prototype your ideal innovation ecosystem and sketch the innovation infrastructure adapted to your organization’s needs.
  • We challenge your team and your collaborative innovation partners to find new breakthrough business opportunities and unmet customer needs and identify promising market trends.
  • Together, we will develop variations of value propositions and business models for your collaborative ideas.
  • We will jointly identify the critical assumptions and value propositions to review in the testing phase.
  • We use visuals to structure, create alignment and shared understanding, and accelerate decision-making.
  • Tell your story, engage your stakeholders, define the next steps and accelerate toward success.

Innovation as a
service

We offer a Consulting package to help you co-design and co-develop a pipeline of innovative projects in different stages, with specific customers, enforcing different strategic pillars towards the future.

Ideal for companies’ chief strategy and chief innovation officers who need more hands-on support identifying, assessing and engaging innovation partners and co-designing the elements of new business models and value propositions. The cooperation programme provides practical support for the efficient, rapid and professional implementation of business experiments. The service includes support in intensive preparation, content design & research, facilitation of strategic conversations and co-creation of all outputs.

32 hours – Consisting of intensive preparation (4 hours), Content design & research (8 hours), Facilitating strategic conversations (8 hours), Finalising outputs (8 hours), Joint presentation of the results and next steps moderated discussion (2 hours).

Innovation services are based on a proven design & innovation methodology. You can choose between an online version or take advantage of a work retreat at Venture Factory in Maribor, Slovenia, a brand new creative space designed to co-innovate and accelerate.

  • A great opportunity for a work retreat where we brainstorm with you and your innovation partners to find new business ideas, analyse user needs, and design business models.
  • We are masters at facilitating collaborative innovation processes that focus on the development of new solutions and ensure a smooth workflow and a high level of participant activation.
  • We challenge teams to take a more systematic approach to exploring and testing business ideas, with the goal of reducing risk and learning.
  • We challenge you to invest more time and effort into innovation to re-injected the innovation spirit into your company or just boost it to higher levels.
  • We help you design your business models to deliver more sustainable competitive advantages and ensure market success.
  • We provide complete project management down to the smallest detail to get the job done.

Partnership for collaborative innovation & special projects

We build partnerships with ambitious companies challenging the status quo and building invincible businesses.

Ideal for companies that are looking for a long-term partner in innovation with a proven innovation track record, global reach and strong roots in the CEE startup ecosystem. Ideal for companies looking for a specific innovation project or program we can co-design and co-execute.

We have prepared three packages for you, namely Startupper, Outlier and Unicorn. Each includes a specific amount of consulting hours per month, scouting talents and promoting innovation projects and activities via Podim & Startup Slovenia platforms.

We can provide services online or in person at Venture Factory in Maribor. You can use our creative office space 2 days/month for free.

Startupper package: 12 consulting hours/month.

Outlier package: 24 consulting hours/month.

Unicorn package: 32 consulting hours/month.

  • We offer end-to-end support for your company’s constant reinvention and innovation.
  • We help you create the right environment with talent, processes and methods.
  • We help you reach out and find external partners to drive innovation through cross-industry collaborations.
  • You can use our Podim conference and Start:up Slovenia ecosystem platforms.
  • We can deliver tailor-made solutions to ensure you reach your goals.
  • We can help you reach an international audience through our events, media channels and community partnerships.
  • We help you stand out and accelerate your innovation by being disruptive.
  • We can co-develop special innovation projects or programs (execution/implementation is not included in the base price).

Get on the path to becoming a resilient business

Work and innovate with us to create new value for customers and make a difference in the market. Together with your team, we will discover;

From this point of view, we will clearly envision the future of your business and make the best strategic decisions to get there.

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Wondering what the future can bring to your business? Looking for ways to stay ahead of your competition? To spot unique business opportunities where others only see risk. How to inspire your team and your investors to join forces and commit?

Register today. You’ll receive our latest tips to help you build a resilient business! You’ll also get special discounts on our workshops and events