INNOVATION STRATEGY

Innovation strategy: an explicit roadmap for your desired future

We help you make a deliberate choice of focusing on the best possible way to win
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Design bold steps to
achieve the vision

Secure your competitive
advantage

Cultivate an innovation and
execution culture simultaneously

The year-to-year viability of a company depends on its ability to innovate

Many companies have not yet learned to manage innovation strategically.

A great majority of executives believe that innovation is important to their growth strategy. To stay ahead of everybody else and beat disruption, you need to constantly reinvent yourself.

The very best companies know that they can’t cost-cut themselves into the future. They don’t count on ad hoc, stand-alone efforts that compete with each other for time, money, attention, and prestige. They explore the future while excelling at exploiting the present. They often crush industry boundaries and disrupt others. Unfortunately, many companies don’t have structures and processes in place to execute that ambition.

What if you had a step-by-step guide on how to develop the unique capacities needed for transformational innovation?

At Venture Factory, we help ambitious funders and organisations to develop and execute their innovation strategy and take a bolder path to success.

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

  • Articulate a clear innovation ambition and map your strategic goals to make the best choices for long-term success.
  • Understand how the company’s innovation portfolio looks today and what the desired portfolio would look like.
  • Develop a systematic, stage-gate process that allows you to focus on the right activities at the right time, and use metered funding to systematically de-risk innovation.
  • Develop skills needed for transformational innovation, which typically involve discovery and concept-development processes.
  • Plan to cultivate a culture of innovation and execution to live in harmony under the same roof.
  • Build the right organizational structure where the different types of innovation live within the organization, and there is a clear handover to the running business.
  • Define a way to measure progress and hold business leaders, innovators, and their teams accountable for the return on innovation.
  • Find the talent required for breakthrough efforts and provide sufficient separation from the core business.
Yes, I want to take a bolder path

We’ll help you to spot tomorrow's strategic opportunities and set your business apart

We offer a team-based approach to design a roadmap to achieve a much higher return on investment with a new innovation strategy that focuses on transformative rather than incremental innovation, and aligns it with your overall business goals and ways of working. It will allow you to focus on the things that matter and avoid needless discussions.
Book a free session now!

Let's start working together.

Schedule a FREE 30-minute strategy session

Discuss your goals, challenges and solutions

Start making deliberate
choices to win

Innovation strategy 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 implementing entrepreneurial thinking and innovation methods. 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.
“The food industry revolution is happening. Panvita Group wants to co-create the future, not be left behind. That is why we decided to partner up with the Venture Factory team who has rich experience, a broad network and deep roots in the regional startup ecosystem.”
Toni BalažičBoard member,
Panvita Group (Slovenia)
Toni Balažič
“Venture Factory helped reinvent my existing sound design and audio branding business and create a new, disruptive and scalable product for a newly defined market segment. Workshops and one-on-ones guided me systematically through the process and gave me new skills I will be able to use in the future.”
Simon ŠimatCo-founder & CEO,
Sounds Elements Maker (Slovenia)
Simon Šimat
“Insurance and the financial industry as a whole is one of the more traditional industries with a more rigid way of working. But even so, we are keeping up with modern trends and the resulting changes in customer needs. Because we want to remain competitive in the future, we need to adapt to market conditions and react increasingly quickly to key changes. With tailor-made programs and 1:1 consulting, Venture Factory gives our innovation team additional acceleration of these shifts.”
Miha PahuljeBoard Member, Insurance Company Sava (Slovenia)
Miha Pahulje
“Programi Tovarne podjemov so nam pomagali najti nove možnosti za rast z izkoriščanjem in optimizacijo obstoječih podjemov ter z raziskovanjem novih strateških priložnosti. Skupaj smo izzvali status quo izdelkov in drugih elementov poslovnega modela.“
Vitja SikošekCo-founder & CEO,
Vitja.si (Slovenia)
Vitja Sikošek
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We offer you end-to-end innovation services

Workshops &
trainings

We design and facilitate workshops and trainings for the development and execution of innovation strategies. They are ideal for company teams that want to learn how to manage and fully leverage innovation to make it a reliable driver of growth.

“Innovation Readiness Assessment”

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

“How to Achieve a Much Higher Return with a New Innovation Strategy?”

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 from a clear and solid understanding of your business, context and objectives.
  • We challenge you and your team to be bold and clear about innovation ambition and long-term value creation.
  • We put your customers and stakeholders first and develop an innovation strategy and align it with your overall business goals and ways of working.
  • We facilitate relevant strategic discussions and boost co-creation.
  • You get practical tools for strategy development.
  • We use visual work to structure, create alignment and shared understanding, and accelerate decision making.
  • You will learn how to make transformational innovation efforts your new strength.
  • We follow up to get feedback and define potential next steps.
Reserve your call

Innovation as a
service

We offer a Consulting package to help you co-design and co-develop your innovation strategy and execute it to fully harness innovation’s energy and make it a reliable driver of growth.

Ideal for company teams that need more hands-on support in innovation strategy development and implementation. It 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 to spend time brainstorming and working on your innovation strategy.
  • We are masters of facilitation, delivering the right, frictionless design process, an engaging experience and high-quality output.
  • We challenge you and your team to be bold and clear about long-term value creation for customers and stakeholders.
  • You get practical tools for innovation readiness assessment and strategy development.
  • You will experience a high-intensity strategy development process where you co-create and co-develop an innovation roadmap for future success.
  • We visualize the results being clear and transparent to enable deliberate choices for long-term success.
  • We activate your leadership & innovation team, boost collaboration, spark creativity, improve team performance and help with implementation.
  • We provide complete project management down to the smallest detail to get the job done.
Book a 30 min innovation call

Partnership for collaborative innovation & special projects

We build partnerships with ambitious companies challenging the status quo and building resilient 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).
Let’s discuss your bold ambitions

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;

  • Your winning ambition
  • Where do you play?
  • How do you win?
  • Your core competencies.
  • Your core systems.
From this point of view, we will clearly envision the future of your business and make the best strategic decisions to get there.
Let's work together!

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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