Are you an early-stage company with a great product/service concept and willing to further develop it and launch in the market? Are you still working on your MVP (Minimum Viable Product)? Have you already launched products and services in the market and are ready to scale-up, develop new markets, and attract further rounds of investment? Or maybe you are an established business looking at diversifying your product line based on your existing technologies, portfolio of products & services, and expertise? Are you hoping to develop and launch an innovative product in the next months?

A team of students will work as innovation consultants to your organization and address an innovation challenge of your choosing! They will conduct an in-depth needs analysis, will apply state-of-the-art innovation approaches and tools to propose alternatives, and with your input, they will select one of those alternatives and present it as a fully developed business plan.

The project is organized into two phases.

In the first phase of the project, after completing the need analysis and having a very good understanding of the challenge faced by the company, students will submit and present a project proposal. The project proposal includes a diagnosis and the gist of the solution students may recommend at the end of the project. The proposal also includes a project plan, with timelines, deliverables, and, if requested, a preliminary assessment of the project feasibility (i.e., economic, and operational). The first phase is the equivalent of a Go-No-Go in business.

In the second phase of the project, at the end of the engagement, teams will submit a fully developed business plan. In addition to the typical elements of a business plan, the company should expect a clear recommendation with an implementation plan, a budget, and economic feasibility analysis (depending on the available information, provided by the business).