TESTIMONIALS 

Cirdan Path XL: The single biggest takeaway from the programme was the realisation we need to support product development with data driven decision making.  Too often it is easy to assume we know how end customers will use a product – but the Strategyzer Toolkit shows how easy it is to quickly gather market feedback…..We were so impressed with the methodology covered in the programme, we have adopted it into our wider product portfolio management process as a way of validating or extending product innovation.  STE has given us the confidence to validate, from voice of the customer sessions, our best next move!’

Hi Viso Ltd: The CrawliSkate product has undergone extensive clinical research and product development over the past 4 years. During this time, limited market research has been conducted. Hi Viso joined the Scaling the Edge Programme with a view of validating many of the assumptions held regarding market validation and positioning.  The Scaling the Edge programme enabled us to make the commitment to step back from our current projects and address our need for market/product validation.  The tools explored in the first few days have proved to be invaluable tools and have provided us with a structure to work with as part of our product design process moving forward.  We have since taken time to work together as a Team to create a Value Proposition and Business Model Canvas across our other projects. This new process will help us move forward quickly & efficiently with new projects as the company grows.  We entered the programme with a list of assumptions, based on our understanding of the product and market suitability at that time. We’re delighted that whilst most of these proved to be true, there were a couple that turned out to not be the case. These learning will now enable us to move forward with approaching the correct audiences and professionals to develop the product and take it to market.  As a result of the Scaling the Edge Programme, we have chosen to pivot our main business project and move forward with commercialising CrawliSkate. I don’t believe that we would have made this decision without taking part in the programme and giving the project the time and dedication, it required to see the market potential.

Russell IPM: Russell IPM manufactures pheromone–based products for pest management. We wanted to test whether there is a market for our mating disruption product, and therefore whether it is worth investing in.

The programme provided a platform for focussed review of the pest control market in grapevines, allowing us to identify the increasing demand for mating disruption products in different countries.  We discovered sales prices, required formulations, the preferred device to deliver the pheromone as well as potential challenges to overcome.  In our case, although we learned and used the new digital tools presented to gain information, we got the most useful information through one to one conversations from a range of specialists, distributors and end users. We benefitted from the Scaling the Edge programme by approaching the information gathering process in a more systematic, defined way, with decisions based on data based on the response.  We hope that it will ensure that we invest in those products most likely to deliver a return on investment.  We intend to use the process and apply it to a range of other products that we are developing.

Voscuris: As a company we wanted to diversify and bring additional solutions to the digital health market, but did not know how best to go about testing the market interest for new ideas without spending significant money in the process.  We therefore wanted to join the programme to learn new methods of rapid market testing which could help with this.  Through the programme we learnt how to use tools such as business model canvas and the value proposition canvas to help train our thoughts on the problem we are trying to solve, identifying who the potential customers are and why they would wish to buy the solution.  With support we were then able to derive a number of different hypotheses to test the market, learning new digital methodologies and a structured way to run a short market testing project.  This enabled us to test out interest in our idea at low cost, identify any potential barriers and assess if the project has commercial viability before we invest in it further.  For our project we identified that there was viability to take the project forward commercially, and the research highlighted the need to be able to demonstrate usage at scale before we can follow up on some specific commercial opportunities within the public health sector.  The programme was immensely beneficial in providing us with a structure for market testing that we can apply to all our new product ideas going forward.  It also underlined for us the importance of taking time out of the business to work on the business.  We have decided to progress with this project and follow up on some commercial discussions that could lead to the data from the app being used for long COVID research, which would provide us with a commercial model for revenue return.  We are also planning to look at export markets (in particular the US) if we are successful in gaining the necessary traction in the UK.  We have also decided to use the rapid market testing model tools learned to apply to the business going forward.

Welsh Government: Without doubt this must be a new “can do'' mentality when looking at new business acquisition. During the presentations I noticed a confidence to question previously held ideas / concepts how new sales / marketing could be achieved. The participating organisations have commented how good Scaling the Edge has been. The skills and knowledge acquired are embedded and shared within the organisations!

Invest Northern Ireland: The Scaling the Edge Programme delivers real value by way of building innovation capabilities into businesses.  This programme should be scaled up to allow more businesses to participate. By building the innovation capabilities learnt during the programme the outcomes will see an increase in more sustainable, exportable and scalable commercial ideas coming into the market.  As a panel member on the Scaling the Edge Programme it was encouraging to see the participating businesses realising the importance of this stage of the innovation journey. One participant stated that if they had known about the process delivered through the programme they would have saved a lot of money and time by using the techniques and tools learnt during the programme. Others stated that the programme has allowed them to be more confident in the evidence gathered during the process which allowed quicker decision making and the ability to gain buy-in from executive levels and secure funding to take the idea further.

INNOVATION PROGRAMMES TEAM

If you have any queries on the innovation programmes at Queen's, please contact Kerri Crossey.

K.crossey@qub.ac.uk