Case Studies

Unilever HZL Inside-out Program

Project objectives

Reviving Hazeline Brand through internal incubation & acceleration
Adopt and apply a completely new entrepreneurial process and mindset
Accelerate the process of prototyping and building MVP to go to market
Create and validate a new business model which is applicable for Hazeline

Our solution

Tailor made acceleration program with lean startup methodology
EIR coaching by industry experts and serial entrepreneurs

Foxconn Wake Up Call

50+ innovators

Foxconn D Group

3-day wake up call in Shenzhen

Goals

To get inspired by the innovation ecosystem, find ways to drive new business revenues for Foxconn, and identify talents for the new innovation projects.

Participants

Head of D Group, senior managers, and junior team members from Shenzhen, Wuhan, Taiwan, and USA

Outcome

25 people joined a follow up internal accelerator program run by XNode resulting in the subsequent creation of 2 spin-outs by Foxconn

Sodexo outside-in program

Project Objectives

Scout and asses top-notch Chinese startups to get access to state-of-the-art technology with potential for immediate business impact
Accelerate the business proposition of each startup by guiding the development of a Proof of Concept and producing a comprehensive business case. To allow Sodexo to make an informed decision on potential investment in selected startups
Promote Sodexo as a startup friendly brand and provide a major impulse to the internal culture of innovation

XNode Solution

Startup scouting & assessment
The startup launchpad
The innovation outpost
The open innovation day

Investment Result

On Nov 8, 2018, AEYE-GO received a capital investment from Sodexo Ventures as a direct result of the LaunchPad Program

“We are extremely excited to announce the first investment from Sodexo Ventures in China into AEYE-GO. We have always believed that combining the flexibility and creativity of local innovative startups with the fundamental know-how of Sodexo's will enable us to jointly build an ecosystem of digital and innovative services in China. We look forward to working with bigger, better and more powerful Chinese startups in the future to bring much higher value-added solutions and smarter experiences to our customers and consumers.”

Belen Moscoso Del Prado Lopez-Dóriga

Chief Digital and Innovation Officer, Sodexo

Continental China Megacity Mobility Solutions Incubator 2019

Project Objectives

Company Objectives

Adopt and apply a completely new entrepreneurial process and mindset;

Help internal teams validate their innovative ideas with real customers and leads to more launching opportunities;

Accelerate the process of prototyping and building Minimum Viable Product (MVP) to go to market faster.

Pain Points to Address

A multitude of BU’s and markets all with its own dynamics and interests;

Time-consuming and costly process for idea and concept development;

The challenge to quickly learn from the market feedback and improve iteratively.

XNode Solution

Lean Startup Methodology:

Intensive acceleration workshops over three months
Using lean startup concepts to build solid business models and test hypotheses
Rapid prototyping to develop a minimal viable prototype at the end of 3 months

Entrepreneurs-in-Residence:

Our Entrepreneur-in- Residence, Sina, an entrepreneur with experience with digital marketing and the Chinese consumer ecosystem,
Through weekly touchpoint meetings, Sina will guide the team as they work on their product, providing valuable insights and guidance

Stakeholder Engagement:

XNode will facilitate the discussion between ASI’s Europe team and Chinese team
Team will tap onto our community of external partners, investors and mentors

Pernod Ricard China - Ask Jerry Challenge

Objectives

The challenge aims at making Ask Jerry – Pernod Ricard China’s nationwide WeChat Cocktail Platform, the next industry-standard marketplace with the largest community for bartenders, bar owners and cocktail lovers in China.

Identify

the most promising Startups with whom to set up cooperation agreements and create strong synergies in China

Accelerate

the top Startups into Xnode ”LaunchPad” Acceleration Program, in which startups can learn, shape and further grow their business

Collaborate

both online and offline with Pernod Ricard China experts to implement the solutions proposed at the end of the challenge.

‍

The Agorize platform was used as a powerful digital tool to spot the best startups to co-develop the Ask Jerry WeChat Platform and making it the next industry-standard marketplace. The XNode ‘’LaunchPad’’ transformed the ideas in executable business cases.

Osram 2019 X-pioneer

Building the OSRAM Engine of Innovation

XNode worked with OSRAM China BUs to scope and identify business opportunities. Together, 5 innovative ideas with clear pain points and opportunities were defined.

The goal of the X-Pioneer acceleration was to rapidly generate business impact for OSRAM. It also aims to leverage the speed and agility of startups in combination with the existing client network and resources of OSRAM to experiment with new business models.

The innovation journey started with ideation

XNode organized an ideation workshop with multiple BU teams to identify business challenges and opportunities for OSRAM.

At the end of the ideation session, outputs were:

High potential technologies and innovations for implementation
Relevant business challenges and opportunities
Preliminary project roadmap for acceleration

Demo Day

On May 27th 2020, X-Pioneer demo day was held in Shanghai with over 40 participants from different business units including smart lighting, automotive, and smart city.

Michelin SAP 2019

Program Overview

Innovation is a key priority for Michelin to achieve its 2020 Ambitions. In order to achieve those ambitions, Michelin decided to set up a Corporate Innovation Board which initiated the Incubation Program Office.

In China, Michelin IPO (the innovation department) aims to build a strong portfolio of new business models and solutions in the following domains: (1) commercial fleet (2) individual consumers’ mobility needs, (3) retailers, consumer experience on food and travel

Together with Michelin IPO, XNode helped different BU :

Define and finetune innovation topic and needs
Scout and screen the best startups
Accelerate the POC projects with structured methodology and expert coaching.

Kering Innovation Workshop

50+ brand managers

Kering China and APAC

2-day innovation workshop in Shanghai (powered by Fabernovel and XNode)

Goals

To gather in-depth knowledge on pre-determined topics relevant to Kering group’s strategy and get inspired by best innovation practices in different fields and industries

Participants

Various brand managers from China and the APAC region, as well as innovation team from the group

Outcome

Identified trends and inspirations not only limited to luxury industry
Potential business challenges and opportunity identified with a follow-up by adopting new ideas for innovation within respective major brands of Kering
An ideation workshop in Hong Kong for 200+ Gucci store managers

GAC-SOFINCO Scouting & Demo Day Program

The Project

Co-defining topics, requirements and criteria for evaluating startups
Scouting and assessing startups based on the requirements
Interviewing and shortlisting of potential startups based on the evaluation criteria
Organizing pitching workshops for startups in preparation for the Demo Day
Assist in creating marketing collaterals and supporting Demo Day preparations

Pitching Workshop

XNode organized 1-1 pitching workshop with the startups to refine their pitches and decks in preparation for the final demo day.

Demo Day

On November 8th 2019, GAC-SOFINCO’s demo day was held in Guangzhou with over 30 participants from different business units, and China CEO was one of the judges together with other BU heads. XNode was also invited to give a sharing about corporate innovation.

Final Pitch & Demo Day: 3 startups, 1 winner

Innovation Programs

Our practice-proven programs

Internal & External Accelerators

Learning Expedition

Reverse Mentoring

Let's talk about your innovation goals

Case Studies

Unilever HZL Inside-out Program

Foxconn Wake Up Call

Sodexo outside-in program

Continental China Megacity Mobility Solutions Incubator 2019

Pernod Ricard China - Ask Jerry Challenge

Osram 2019 X-pioneer

Michelin SAP 2019

Kering Innovation Workshop

GAC-SOFINCO Scouting & Demo Day Program

Innovation Programs

Our practice-proven programs

Internal & External Accelerators

Learning Expedition

Reverse Mentoring

Let's talk about your innovation goals

Case Studies

Unilever HZL Inside-out Program

Foxconn Wake Up Call

Sodexo outside-in program

Continental China Megacity Mobility Solutions Incubator 2019 ​

Pernod Ricard China - Ask Jerry Challenge

Osram 2019 X-pioneer

Michelin SAP 2019

Kering Innovation Workshop

GAC-SOFINCO Scouting & Demo Day Program

Continental China Megacity Mobility Solutions Incubator 2019