Understanding where and how a food safety technology adds value

Bringing a novel technology to a field where new solutions can also be liabilities if they don’t find the proper use case

THE CHALLENGE

A start-up developed a novel technology that kills certain bacteria and microbes on contact. They began by exploring the healthcare industry on their own, and then partnered with us to understand what opportunities also existed for their technology in the food and agriculture industries.

OUR SOLUTION

We carried out a discovery sprint to understand where the highest value opportunity was in this space. It started with a blue-sky session of all possible ways in which this technology could be used. From there we narrowed the viable opportunities based on the current and planned R&D roadmap. For those use cases that made the cut, we dove into desk research and interviews with industry contacts for a deeper, real-world understanding of the technology’s potential value. The output for this sprint was a detailed report of each opportunity area and the steps needed to successfully leverage them.

THE OUTCOME

During the discovery sprint, not only did our industry contacts offer insight into their challenges, but a number also agreed to act as pilot partners for in-field testing when the start-up was ready. Similarly, industry groups offered to promote the solution to their members.

We are continuing to work with this start-up on the next steps to commercialization in the identified areas.