Have an idea about opportunities to develop innovative tech solutions to address the business challenges your organisation is facing? Could these challenges be presented to a team of skilled graduates to develop a new to market product?
Launchpad Overview
Launchpad is a market driven incubation programme. It builds high-growth, high-value digital companies, at pace, to meet an identified market demand.
How does it work?
The first step it to work with industry partners to identify their business / sector challenges and issues. These challenges become the starting point for recruiting experienced and skilled graduates into new tech teams. These teams explore the challenges, identify the market opportunity, get creative and solve problems. The outcome is new to market solutions, products and also new tech businesses.
What are we looking for?
Can you put forward a challenge for our hand selected teams starting the programme?
Why become involved?
- There is no upfront development cost to you as an industry partner
- The team will target a solution around the challenge identified as a new market opportunity
- Ability to work with quick-moving start-up teams, dedicated to providing innovative solutions giving speed to innovation
- Support and development costs fully covered (including graduate stipend, facilities and business support)
- First access to new products and services produced by the teams
- Option to invest
Why not? This is a risk free, no cost option to see new tech products entering the market and businesses entering the supply chain. There is no financial commitment required from our industry partners, just a couple of hours of time every month to first present, and then check in with, the teams. The teams work full time on understanding the challenge, identifying the wider market opportunity and developing a solution / product for the market place.
These products fill an identified market gap, which you could then benefit from. The products might focus on driving business efficiencies, changing relationships with customers, improving decision-making, disrupting business as usual and much more.
As the industry partner working alongside the tech team, you have early access to the options of being involved in the future of the emerging business. This could be in the form of investing in the team, licencing the product etc, but with no obligation to do so.
What does a challenge look like?
We are looking to work with businesses from any sector that have business challenges that can be addressed with a software solution.
Challenges must be real, investible and have scalability. Challenges should not relate to a preconceived market opportunity that already have identified solutions or pre-existing IPR.
We are currently supporting a number of start-up teams. They are working on challenges that relate to the following area (examples only):
- What new tools can be developed to support increased engagement of consumers / customers through livestreaming?
- What solutions can be developed to support (and gamify) workforce engagement which will support greater business productivity?
- What are the opportunities to drive greater agri-food supply chain productivity related to data collation & visualisation?
- What new products can address identified market gaps within games and interactive drama markets?
Do you have an industry challenge that requires a tech solution that you feel a Launchpad graduate team could address?
If you do, then please contact [email protected] or visit www.falmouthlaunchpad.co.uk
The programme is funded by the European Regional Development Fund, Cornwall Council and Falmouth University.
