How to foster a culture of innovation?
Innovation for a cleaner world
Fortum is a global energy company with 8,800 employees and operations in India, Russia and northern Europe. One of the ways Fortum is accelerating innovation within the company is through its Innovation & Venturing services unit that aims to identify, nurture and develop internal start-ups and new business areas. For the past five years, Fortum has also organised a yearly Boot Camp to boost innovation and generate new ventures. Kuudes has been Fortum’s partner in 2018 and 2019 to plan and facilitate the Boot Camp process.
Boot Camp process
100+ ideas globally
Everything starts with a campaign to activate Fortum employees in 11 countries. Using both traditional and guerrilla marketing tactics, we have encouraged a broader attendance to submit ideas. During the two years Kuudes has been involved, the amount of ideas received has more than doubled.
Selection through evaluation
The process then continues by selecting the most promising ideas which match Fortum’s criteria. Kuudes has assisted their team in the first phases of evaluating and choosing the ideas that are put forward to the intensive, 3-day Boot Camp.
From an idea into a startup
Kuudes has both planned and facilitated the 3-day Boot Camp to ensure the ideas respond to user needs, are feasible and align with the Fortum strategy. Kuudes facilitators, together with Fortum’s experts, challenge the teams to get the most out of their ideas, helping to pivot and refine them.
Winner to experiment
The Boot Camp culminates into an open pitching session where the teams pitch their ideas for the Fortum Growth board jury. The winner receives 100 k€ of funding and internal support to experiment their business plan in real life.
Boot Camp
Toolbox
“Kuudes added value to the Boot Camp both in the planning and the pre-camp work and in the actual facilitation. Their experience in organising this type of events as well as their skills in communication, design, and facilitation raised the level of the results substantially. Kuudes brought in an easy-to-understand and applicable methodology for the teams, which resulted in remarkable progress over the course of the 3-day camp.”
Staffan Sandblom
Manager at Fortum Innovation & Venturing Services
Impact
Increase in received ideas
The Boot Camp has gained popularity inside Fortum. There has been a yearly increase in both the amount and level of the ideas received. From 50 ideas in 2017, the Boot Camp got 106 ideas in 2019.
Ideas to experiment
In both of the years Kuudes has been involved, the programme has yielded several tangible business plans instead of only the winner. During the two years, 5 ideas have been put forward out of 11 finalists. The level of the pitches has gotten higher both visually and verbally during the two years Kuudes has been involved.
From participants
The participants gave an overall score of 9 out of 10 to the Boot Camp (ca 9.5 in 2018, ca 9.1 in 2019). The client, jury and participants have all been really satisfied with the facilitation, tools and outcomes of the past two years.
For more information:
Jari Danielsson
CEO, Kuudes Nordic
+358 40 730 9612
jari.danielsson@kuudes.com
