Creating “new business” is crucial in today’s volatile environment. We help companies discover, incubate, build and scale new products, services and business models with our efficient and structured venture building approach. With our support, we help you turn your ideas into value.
Venture Building
Our Approach
CLEAR VISION AND STRATEGIC PLANNING
Clear goals and strategic actions, risk management, and growth structures for ventures
MANAGEMENT INVOLVEMENT
Involvement of key stakeholders in decisions throughout the venture development
PORTFOLIO OF VENTURES
Validating multiple ideas simultaneously to ensure success and spread risk
EXPERIENCED,
VENTURE TEAM
Vast experience in developing corporate ventures and innovations for international clients
FOCUS/FACTORY-LIKE ENVIRONMENT
Focused development in sprint logic, and efficient allocation of people resources
FLEXIBILITY
AND SPEED
Iterative innovation development based on market feedback; stopping of low-potential ideas
Long- term positive impact
SYSTEMATIC “NEW BUSINESS BUILDING”
Venture building increases an organization’s competitiveness by following a structured framework for innovation that aligns with the core organization’s goals and leverages the assets to create an unfair advantage.
INCREASED COMPETITIVENESS
Venture building allows the organization to continuously expand its product portfolio with a broad range of new product and service ideas to ultimately secure additional revenue streams.
INNOVATION- DRIVEN CULTURE
Venture building encourages a culture of innovation and entrepreneurial thinking across the organization, enhancing its attractiveness as an employer.
4 Key Phases of venture building
1
DISCOVER
We define the strategic goals of venture building and innovation fields to uncover untapped growth potential and find suitable business models that leverage the organisation’s core strengths.
- Comprehensive market analysis
- Problem deep dive
- Interviews with business units and customers
- Overview on latest tech and funding trends
- Sourcing of ideas through various internal and external channels
2
INCUBATE
We support you in testing and validating core hypotheses through market research and customer feedback to assess customer demand, revenue potential, and determine whether the venture idea is a worthwhile investment opportunity.
- Customer journey mapping
- In-depth interviews and focus groups
- Value proposition design
- Prototyping and first product testing
3
BUILD
We develop and test a minimum viable product (MVP) with first paying customers, refine your business model and go-to-market strategy, and quickly iterate based on feedback to prepare for scalable growth.
- Detailed UX/UI design
- MVP conceptualization
- Beta launch
- Customer acquisition
- Go-to-Market strategy
- A/B testing
4
SCALE
We guide you to boost sales, grow your team, and expand into new markets to develop a venture that not only attracts and retains customers but also delivers value at scale, paving the way for lasting success.
- Business model deep dive
- Governance and legal set-up
- Talent recruitment
- Growth and funding strategy
- Scaling roadmap and KPIs
Client Voices
Christian Huter
Innovation Manager
" Partnering with Pioneers to get our corporate venture studio, 120 Ventures, off the ground was a key move. Their practical approach to developing innovation & growth strategies and their supportive role in our venture building process really helped us move forward. It's been a collaborative effort all the way, blending their insights with our goals. "
Juan Rosenzweig
Innovation Manager
" Partnering with Pioneers for our product development from concept to prototype proved to be a strategic choice. Their deep knowledge in developing physical prototypes was evident every step of the way, paving the way form what has the potential to be a new product offering from RHIM after final client tests. "
Harald Asböck
Manager
" It was a pleasure to work with the Pioneers team on the ANDRITZ Ventures Startup Contest. They collaborated effectively with our intrapreneurs and provided valuable know-how around corporate venture building which was crucial for the success of our program. "
Stefan Schlumberger
Business Innovation Manager
" Since the joint setup of our lab, Pioneers has supported the customer-centric development of several innovative ideas. The team's hands-on working style, deep methodology knowledge, and strategic competence bring great value to our projects. "
Overview of latest references
ANDRITZ VENTURES STARTUP CONTEST
Pioneers accompanied Andritz Ventures in the execution of multiple global Startup Contests between 2018 and 2024 with the aim of bringing internal, innovative business ideas to life
- Reached 300+ employees
- 150+ ideas submitted
- 30+ high potential ideas developed and teams coached
- 15 ideas selected for the next prototyping phase
- large investments from C-level into further development
- Success story: Green hydrogen division with 40+ FTEs 2023
RHI MAGNESITA INNOVATION CHALLENGE
Pioneers accompanied and methodically led an internal RHIM Ventures team for one year in the development of a new product
- Achievement of Problem-Solution Fit
- 2 patent applications
- Developed 2 solution concepts with very high market potential
- Go decision for serial testing with the customer
- Currently, tests are being conducted under real customer conditions. After successful execution, adaptation to serial production will follow.
MONEYUP – A JUNIOR BANKING SOLUTION
Jointly with our client we crafted a new banking-app for young people through a customer- centric approach:
- +80h research and analysis measures to understand the market environment and competition
- +150 interviews with young adults
- +30 user tests with click-dummy
- +20 customer hypotheses validated
- +15 stakeholder interviews for strategic sales and marketing concept performed
- +10 stakeholder interviews with internal IT-providers
- +3 pre-defined implementation partners for software-development
Strong Footprint in Many Large Organizations
Why Pioneers?
We combine a unique set of assets and skills. With background from both strategy consulting and years of experience in the startup scene, we are experts of both the corporate and startup world
STRATEGY-CONSULTING COMPETENCE
Our team has 10+ years of experience in developing and managing corporate strategies.
CORPORATE CHANGE
KNOW-HOW
We understand the barriers of creating an entrepreneurial company and guide a successful transformation.
EXPERTISE
IN EXECUTION
So far we supported 100+ intrapreneur teams, 20+ corporate ventures, and 100+ startup collaborations in their execution.
PIONEERS.CLIMATE
In the quest for carbon neutrality there is a large “climate gap”. We help develop sustainable offers to reduce companies’ carbon footprint.
STARTUP NETWORK
Since 2014 we work on startup collaborations and have built a large network for international scouting.
PIONEERS.TALENT
We have extensive expertise in recruiting talents for key positions in corporates, startups, and corporate ventures.
