Cases Overview | Education Fraunhofer AHEAD Program

Boosting the Fraunhofer AHEAD-program: Bringing business model thinking to 180+ deep tech entrepreneurs

The German Fraunhofer-Gesellschaft is one of the world’s leading applied research organizations. It focuses on developing seminal technologies and enabling their commercial exploitation. Their ‘Competence Center Unternehmertum’ oversees spin-offs with the mission to turn world-class technology into successful start-ups and bring innovative ideas to market.

As a technology transfer program, the Fraunhofer AHEAD-program is the central platform between the Fraunhofer-Gesellschaft and the external entrepreneurship ecosystem.

Researchers looking to leverage their technology and startups looking for technological competence can participate in the Fraunhofer AHEAD-program. Throughout the program, teams are matched with experts for different aspects of the venture creation.

Early-stage teams often need a systematical approach to identify the customer value of a new technology and design a valid business model around it.

Similar situation? We’re happy to help.

To bring business model thinking to their teams, Fraunhofer partnered with the BMI Lab. Based on their St Gallen Business Model Navigator approach, the advisory developed a coaching model to support teams during the initial phase of the Fraunhofer AHEAD-program.

Two years after integrating the digital business modelling lab to the program, it has become a cornerstone of the Fraunhofer AHEAD-program. More than 180 start-ups have successfully designed and validated business models for their new technologies with BMI Lab’s structured approach.

Flexible education solution

As most of the teams work remotely, BMI Lab has adapted its digital business modelling lab to meet the need for an asynchronous and digital working environment, offering a combination of individual coaching slots and joint working sessions using a digital collaboration platform. Teams can access many of the interactive tools and frameworks online anytime and from anywhere and request support whenever needed.

Cross-sector expertise

The St Gallen Business Model Navigator is based on research into more than 350 successful companies across various sectors. Many of the tools and frameworks, such as the 55+ Business Model Pattern Cards, enable participants of the Fraunhofer AHEAD-program to apply the insights of what makes a successful business model to their idea. This way, start-ups can break free from their industries dominant logic and learn from successful innovators.

Early validation

The first milestone in the assumptions-based development process is the validation of the problem/solution fit, hence that the value proposition meets the customers’ needs and problems. All participating teams learned how to identify critical assumptions early on and systematically test them with potential customers and partners, thereby de-risking the business model development process.

The BMI Digital Business Modelling Lab is a remote education program enabling participants to develop an idea into a business model concept. By combining online tools and virtual coaching sessions, the program highly customizable and can be easily adjusted to meet your specific goals.

Schedule a free consultation call with our BMI Lab Digital expert to explore how you can create new business for your organization.

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