Pioneers.io

Pioneers.io operates as a corporate innovation consulting firm and venture-building platform, guiding established companies in their transformation efforts. The firm was initially founded by Jürgen Furian and Andreas Tschas, who launched the widely recognized Pioneers Festival to cultivate a more dynamic startup scene in Vienna. They identified a gap in the local ecosystem and aimed to create a platform to support and connect startups with future technologies. This early focus on fostering a community laid the groundwork for the company's evolution.

Over time, the business pivoted to more directly serve corporate clients. In 2018, Pioneers became part of startup300 to expand its network and service offerings. The company's core business is to help corporations unlock their innovation potential by developing and scaling new products, services, and business models. This is achieved through a suite of services that cover innovation strategy, organizational setup, and execution. The firm's revenue is generated through consultancy services provided to its corporate clients, which include companies like Porsche Holding Salzburg, Airbus, and booking.com.

Pioneers.io offers several distinct services. Their 'Venture Building' service helps companies create new businesses from initial idea to market scaling, employing a structured, phased approach that includes discovery, incubation, building, and scaling. They also facilitate 'Venture Clienting,' where they connect corporations with startups for collaboration, such as the VERBUND X Accelerator program. Another key offering is supporting 'Intrapreneurship,' empowering employees within large organizations to develop their own ventures in a startup-like environment. This is supported by formats like the Pioneers.Peak platform, a multi-corporate intrapreneurship program. In 2024, the company launched Pioneers.Talent, a specialized unit for talent recruitment for startups and corporate ventures.

The business model is built on leveraging over a decade of experience in corporate strategy and insights from the startup world. They apply agile, hypothesis-driven methods to validate opportunities quickly. This approach allows clients to either build their own innovation capabilities or outsource venture development, as seen with their "Venture-Studio-As-A-Service" offering. By combining deep market analysis with an understanding of corporate structures, Pioneers.io helps established companies navigate the complexities of innovation and build competitive advantages. Keywords: corporate innovation, venture building, intrapreneurship, open innovation, startup collaboration, innovation consulting, venture clienting, strategy consulting, digital transformation, corporate venturing