MVP Factory

🤖 AI meets Logistics 📦 Today, we’re beyond excited to announce that Northbound, our latest venture from the venture studio with DB Schenker, has secured €1.3 million in pre-seed funding. 🎉 💻 An AI-powered SaaS solution designed to revolutionize supply chain operations, Northbound leverages real-time milestone data and AI to optimize the flow of inbound cargo shipments for trade and manufacturing companies. 🚢 Northbound addresses critical pain points in the logistics sector and aims to reduce high demurrage and detention (D&D) costs. It helps international importers proactively manage potential disruptions and create cost transparency, enabling seamless shipments and minimizing penalty costs. 💰 🌟 In the last few months, the digital solution has successfully onboarded first-paying customers and raised €1.3 million in pre-seed funding. The success of Northbound highlights the power of the venture studio model. 📚 💬 Commenting on the collaboration with MVP Factory, Andreas Canel, co-founder of Northbound, shares, “The MVPF team acted as a strong sparring partner from the beginning as we were surrounded by experienced professionals who knew the ins and outs of business-building and had deep ties into various start-up ecosystems.” ⚙ Northbound is an optimal use case of the rising opportunities in AI - it showcases how an innovative venture-building approach can make the process more efficient and reliable. The founders plan to continue the growth trajectory and incorporate advanced AI capabilities to tackle further challenges. 💡 🙌 Our heartiest congratulations to the Northbound team, Andreas Canel and Rahul Y., for this remarkable milestone. Our MVP Factory team, which has accompanied Northbound on this path, is proud of the founders. 🗣 If you’re curious to learn more about Northbound, click the link below to access a candid conversation with Andreas Canel, Co-Founder, as he sits down with Marie-Christin Bergmann, our Senior Communication Manager, to talk more about the journey and their learnings along the way. ✍ https://lnkd.in/d-8Fg5Ja 👀 Interested in the know-how of the venture studio model? Reach out to us to explore the customized business case for your company. Let's unlock growth with strong start-ups. 🚀 https://lnkd.in/e4Z5puFn #Logistics #AITransformation #VentureBuilding #VentureStudio

🏭 Happy #TeamTuesday! This week, we're thrilled to welcome Armin Khalkhali to the MVP Factory team as the Senior Business Development Manager. 👔 👋 Hello! I'm Armin, and I'm thrilled to join MVPF and support the team in the amazing growth story! 💼 I have studied Business Administration with a major in Corporate Finance & investor relations and have worked across Investment Banking, M&A / Private Equity, and Business Development, whilst also being a former founder of a cryptocurrency analytics/trading startup. 🚀 After completing my first three months at MVPF, I can say that the team is full of experienced professionals working with a passion for innovation, within a special warm team culture fostering diversity and inclusivity. ✍ On top of that, I believe our unique approach to building corporate ventures through co-founded startup studios may have decoded corporate venturing which I find inspiring. 🎉 I look forward to being part of the journey, establishing ventures with like-minded people across countries and industries. Reach out if you want to know more about your product- and venture-building approach.

Building VC-fundable Startups as a corporate? Can this really work?! This is what I often hear when talking about our CVC Venture Studio approach that we are running for example with DB Schenker. And my answer is, yes - IF setup correctly. 📢 This week one of our Schenker Venture Startups was able to announce another proof for this approach with their 1.3m € Pre-Seed funding round. An especially strong sign given the tough funding climate that we had the last months! And we are very much looking forward to announcing more of such rounds as we have a number of portfolio companies that are already showing great early successes. 🚀 But how does a correct setup then look like? I will publish a whole whitepaper about this later this summer, but here are a few key cornerstones: 📑 Accept the rules of the game you are joining → The investment terms and cap table have to fit within the common venture capital rules and practices. That means that something like 30% studio/ corporate ownership at Pre-Seed is a death knell. 🐣 Design for independence and entrepreneurial freedom → If you want to attract AAA founders, you will need to give them the entrepreneurial freedom that they need to build a scalable venture. Keeping the studio close to the core business units and dictating their strategy and decision making will make those founders leave within weeks. 🏭 Ensure corporate assets are not only an advantage on paper → A key reason for founders and VCs to be part of a CVC venture is the unfair advantage that the venture can get from accessing corporate assets like data, clients and IP. However, if these assets are in practice hidden behind inaccessible corporate barriers, the story will backlash fast. ⌛ Be ready to play the long game → Per definition a portfolio of VC funded ventures will not return significant revenue contributions in the first one or two years. Likely, the ROI will even be negative for the first 4-6 years. Exits, especially those ones that are winner cases or fund returners, will only occur after 7-10 years. Everything before that is a valuation on paper. Make sure the top management understands and does not pull the plug before things actually start flying. If you want to know more about CVC venture studios or think this is relevant for you - reach out 📨 . But be reminded that a CVC venture studio is not the silver bullet for every part of the innovation strategy.

🏆🎉 We are thrilled to announce that WUNDERFiX | JobRad Gruppe, a venture from Startrampe | Venture Studio JobRad Gruppe, MVPF Venture Studio with JobRad, received the Eurobike Award 2024 in the category of "Digital Solution". 🚀 🌟 A full-service innovative solution, WUNDERFiX GmbH connects cyclists with mechanics, allowing the former to repair their bikes themselves, remotely. 🛠️ 🚴♂️ It addresses the unique challenges of D2C bike producers and traders who provide online bicycle shipping. By supporting the customer service of such it aims to transform the industry, ensuring fast, seamless, and efficient bike repairs regardless of location. ⚙ 💬 "This award represents much more than a milestone; it highlights the extensive problem validation, market research, continuous iteration, and product building that went into creating WUNDERFiX. I’m incredibly thankful for teaming with the dedicated and hard-working team of WUNDERFiX turning an idea into a fully realized product and company in just a few months. Our commitment to solving real-world problems in the bicycle industry has paid off - I am excited for the future of WUNDERFiX and what's ahead,” - Hannah Fahnenstich, Project Lead and Product Manager at MVP Factory. 🤝🙏 A huge shoutout to the whole WUNDERFiX | JobRad Gruppe team, Ulrich Prediger, Uwe Habicher, Dag Freudenhammer, Jakob Roether, Philip Haberstroh, Verena Weis, Viola Egger, Kristine Johari, and the MVPF crew, Hannah Fahnenstich, Kilian Sorg, Damir Seremet, Markus Börner, and Baby Jessi Parker. 🏭 #EurobikeAward2024 #DigitalSolution #ProductBuilding #Innovation #CorporateVenturing

Learning: Small groups of likeminded people make for a fun and inspiring evening. Thank you Justus Groth for the invitation to the AFCEA Bonn‘s Emerging Leaders Meeting. Over the course of more than three hours we exchanged ideas and learnings in the area of Defence & GovTech. From our own MVP Factory project experience to Health Tech, Energy and Security topics - the time really flew by. I am grateful for all the new and interesting contacts and the reinforced understanding that now more than ever it is important to break silos, come together, share & collaborate. Complex problems need to be tackled from multiple angles to create valuable outcomes. Thank you especially Maik von Angern, Tobias Engfer, Nemo Buschmann, Kevin Koritzke, Laura Empl,Théodore Cussac, Kay Zander & Dong Hoang for the interesting chats and discussions.

👀 Product managers, UX/UI designers, and user research enthusiasts - we have something thrilling brewing for you! ☕ 🎫 Join MVP Factory, idealo internet GmbH, and Ströer Connections GmbH on 11th July for UX Crush, a dynamic meetup dedicated to the confluence of user insights and product development.💡 https://lnkd.in/e9_cNRDe 🚀 What to Expect: 📚 Raw Insights: Honest conversations about navigating constraints, making impactful decisions, and learning from successes and failures. 🎤 Expert Speakers: Get exclusive product insights from industry leaders like Liesbeth Gericke and Baby Jessi Parker from MVPF, Tanja Toyka from Ströer Connections GmbH, and Ludmilla Grefenstein from idealo internet GmbH. 🤝 Networking: Connect with like-minded professionals and engage in meaningful discussions, all the while enjoying good food and drinks. 🎯 Whether you're a seasoned professional or just starting in the field, UX Crush promises to provide actionable insights to help you build products that users truly love. 🌟 📅 When: 11th July 📍 Where: Axel Springer Cube ⌚What time: 17:30 - 21:30 👉 Register now: https://lnkd.in/e9_cNRDe #productmanagement #UX #UI #UserResearch #Networking

🌏 Fascinating traditions, lively anecdotes, and joyful curiosity - the MVP Factory global team recently dived deep into various customs and ways of life as we celebrated Culture Day 2024. 🎉 “The culture day broadened my perspective on various working styles and helped me understand different cultures' values and "weaknesses" - I will now better appreciate and consider these differences when collaborating with people globally,” Bethany Singer, Senior Talent Acquisitions Manager. 🤝 🏭 As a global company, MVP Factory has always served as a melting pot for different nationalities internally and externally via our client base. 💡 Ensuring our teams learn about intercultural collaboration and various approaches to innovation allows us to create products that meet diverse clients' needs through the inclusion of multiple perspectives. 📚 🗣 Sharing his experience, Baby Jessi Parker, Designer at MVPF and the mind behind the event said, “The main takeaway for me was witnessing the collective 'aha' moments as we learned about different cultural nuances. I am excited about the possibility of broadening the scope and hosting similar events with a wider audience, including clients and experts.” 🎯 💫 Thank you to everyone who joined us and made this day memorable. A special shoutout to our organizing team, Baby Jessi Parker and Oluwatosin Victoria Ademokun, for pulling off such a phenomenal event! 🙌  📈 Let’s continue to connect, learn, and grow together! 🌟 #TeamBuilding #CultureDay #GlobalTeam #Innovation

♀ Did you know that the European Femtech Market is predicted to reach $35 billion by 2032, indicating a notable growth trajectory? 📈 💡 There is a growing focus on women’s health, and to leverage the changing tides, companies need to put users at the forefront - it is essential to build products that not only meet the unique health needs of women worldwide but also create a real difference in the sector. 🚑 🖊 In our latest blog, Laura Becedas Segerström, Senior Product Manager at MVP Factory, walks us through the current status quo of innovation in the sector, the opportunities facing care providers, and the process of building a user-centric digital solution. 📱 https://lnkd.in/dPzwjyVj 💬 “There exist significant data gaps due to a lack of research in the sector. I believe that data-driven solutions, like Nanell, an MVP Factory and Venture Lab Niterra Group solution, could help experts analyze patterns and trends.” Read the blog to learn more about: 🤰How to overcome the existing research gap concerning women’s health data. 🔢 The various ways of acquiring user data tailored to your project’s needs. 🏭 The MVPF approach to building user-centric femtech digital solutions. 🙌 If you’re ready to leverage the growing opportunities and build the next disruptive digital product, contact us - let’s define the future of femtech together. 🚀 💊 https://lnkd.in/e4Z5puFn #Femtech #PregnancySolution #Innovation #FemaleHealth

🏭 It's time for #TeamTuesday! This week we're excited to introduce the newest addition to the MVP Factory crew, Bethany Singer, who joins us as the Senior Talent Acquisitions Manager. 🔍 👋 Hello everyone! I'm Beth, and I'm super excited to join the MVPF team. 🎯 Over the past 6 years in London, I've been dedicated to globally recruiting awesome talent—spending 3.5 years at an agency and nearly 3 years in-house at a fintech startup. ✨ My focus has always been on fostering genuine, impactful connections with both stakeholders and candidates to deliver exceptional experiences. 🚀 I feel incredibly privileged to be part of such a collaborative, innovative, and diverse company and to have the opportunity to contribute to the growth of MVP Factory's already phenomenal team. 📈

🔓 Unlocking unprecedented growth with GenAI! 🚀 Last week, 40+ AI enthusiasts from diverse domains came together for an evening marked by one joint goal - how can companies unlock business excellence with GenAI and successfully revolutionize the innovation journey? 🤝 🏭 The exclusive MVPF roundtable kickstarted with 4 impulse talks showcasing various perspectives on the growing adoption of AI in different sectors, along with a few predictions on the upcoming trends and what lies ahead. 🙏 Thanks a lot to our expert speakers, Arne Wolfewicz, Kilian Springer, Kilian Sorg, and Andreas Canel for joining us and sharing your perspectives.💡 ✍ If we were to summarize the evening into three points, here is our top selection: 1️⃣ The right time to adopt AI is NOW ⏳ By 2030, AI will reach human-level performance in various domains, including creativity and analysis, further emphasizing an imperative need for companies to get ahead of the curve to remain competitive. 2️⃣ The AI edge is already in effect 📈 The initial results from the early adoption of GenAI are already changing the speed at which we innovate. In the future, innovation will be easier and more cost-effective as we can test ideas and bring them to market at rocket speed. 3️⃣ Data is the magic key 🔑 GenAI can take care of the tedious and time-consuming parts of the journey like data collection, aggregation, and analysis - companies should strive to be "data ready" today to avoid being left behind later. 🗣 A huge shout-out to everyone who joined us on Thursday - thank you for providing your insights and AI journeys at companies like Google, Henkel, Viessmann Climate Solutions, amberra, Volkswagen Financial Services, SUMOSMASH, Bundeswehr Cyber Innovation Hub, and many more. 👀 If you couldn’t join our roundtable, fret not - reach out to Marie-Christin Bergmann, our Senior Communications Manager to get early access to the next ones! 💬