Innovation that works in practice

Start-up mentoring – product development and investor communication

Early-stage companies spend most of their time on two things: building a good product and convincing investors of it. Our mentors are at home in both. We help focus the MVP, validate product–market fit, plan the development schedule and resources realistically, and make sure the technical team and the business side speak the same language.

On the investor side we accompany the team from the pitch deck and the financial plan through data-room preparation to negotiations with venture capital (VC) investors: we prepare you for typical investor questions, help interpret the term sheet and support regular, credible investor reporting between rounds.

Product management

A good product is no accident: someone has to continuously connect user needs, business goals and development capacity. Our product management service fills this role: we build the product strategy, prepare a roadmap backed by discovery interviews and data, prioritise, and translate business goals into requirements (user stories, specifications).

We accompany the entire product life cycle – from idea through launch to further development – alongside agile teams, and if there is no in-house product manager we can step in as an interim product manager.

Sales support for digital products

Selling digital products follows a different logic from traditional products: the value proposition, the pricing model (subscription, licence, usage-based), the demo and pilot process and post-launch support must be designed together. We help define the ideal customer profile, set up the sales process and pipeline management, and build the necessary toolset (CRM, proposal and demo materials).

With start-ups we typically help win the first paying customers; with SMEs we help build the digital channels or the international sales of an existing product – drawing on the experience of launching our own products abroad.

Controlling and cost management – for start-ups, and not only

Most start-ups do not fail because of the product but because they run out of money. Our controlling service helps early-stage companies with cash-flow and runway planning, tracking the burn rate, calculating unit economics and financial reporting to investors – with simple, working tools.

Cost management, however, is not a start-up privilege: at mature SMEs we review the cost of processes, set up cost-centre reports and a management dashboard, and where needed implement an ERP/controlling system (e.g. Odoo) – as we did in our own company.

Non-revenue water (NRW) project management

Non-revenue water (NRW) is one of the largest hidden costs of water utilities: water put into the network but not billed, made up of leaks, pipe bursts, metering inaccuracies and unauthorised consumption. Reducing it saves water, energy and money at the same time.

Our team manages the full arc of NRW projects: from preparing the water balance according to the IWA methodology through establishing district metered areas (DMA), pressure management and continuous network monitoring to organising leak detection and meter-park review. Our international reference is the network management optimisation and NRW reduction pilot project of the Pristina (Kosovo) water utility.

Data analytics

Data is generated in many places – sensors, ERP, CRM, laboratory measurements – but rarely comes together into a picture that supports decisions. We help connect and clean data sources, define the right indicators (KPIs) and set up automated reports and dashboards.

While developing our own products (WaterScope, LaborScope, CCounter) we gained substantial experience in AI-supported evaluation of measurement data and images; we apply this knowledge to industrial sensor data, network measurements and business time series – from simple statistics to predictive models.

Blackout consulting – energy preparedness

Recent events in Europe have shown that a widespread, multi-hour or multi-day power outage (blackout) is not a theoretical risk. Most organisations do not fail because of the lack of electricity but because of lack of preparation: IT, cooling, pumping, communication and access control all stop.

Our blackout consulting prepares your company or institution from the energy and organisational side: we identify critical loads and processes, size backup energy sources (UPS, generator, battery storage, PV with storage), and prepare the business continuity and communication plan – with drills and checklists so that everyone knows their role in a real situation. As a by-product, the assessment also points to opportunities to cut energy costs.

Managing Hungarian and international development projects

More and more companies are launching research and development projects with experts, researchers and developers in place at the beginning, but harmonising tasks, keeping deadlines and internal and external communication are not in focus. The reason is that there is no such person – or there is, but very overloaded – who could follow a major project through. Those who have already been involved in R&D&I projects know that developing specifications and documentation is just one step among many: traceability, testing, test feedback, supervising corrections, customer pilots and beta tests impose so many tasks that only an experienced project manager can handle them efficiently.

A research and development team has many supporting tools available and ever new methodologies emerge. A project manager who understands them, works on several projects and thereby gains broad experience can select the best tools tailored to the team. Our team has already participated in numerous international projects with academic partners, institutes, SMEs and corporations from Hungary and abroad.

Assisting access to international markets

We can provide innovative companies with direct assistance and we have the right competences to support start-ups in accessing international markets: from selecting the target market through partner search and international trade fairs to the first pilots abroad.

Studies, feasibility studies, due diligence

We can provide direct support to innovative companies, but we also have the right competences to help investors, as we understand the needs of both sides and can find common ground. We can work together on the progress of a project, but preparing a feasibility study, a technical due diligence or a case study are also tasks in which our team can participate as experts.