Findest™

2024, you were one heck of a ride: - We worked with more projects & customers than ever before - Grew the team - Got comfy in new offices - Where we held the Findest Open Day - Delivered slagroomtaarts - Returned to Finland for Slush - We successfully raised - Celebrated all of the wins (and met the odd loss with humility) As a matter of fact: The company has never been in better shape. - The Universe has never looked and worked better. - Our scouting team keeps wow-ing our customers. - The sales team are a well-oiled machine. - The product, development and AI teams keep outdoing themselves A big thank you to our customers who've helped make the past year such a roaring success. 🦁 2025 promises even more as we move faster towards bringing 10,000 innovations into the world!

"AI-assisted researchers discover 44% more materials, resulting in a 39% increase in patent filings and a 17% rise in downstream product innovation." In a fascinating paper published a month ago and authored by Aiden Toner-Rodgers of MIT, "Artificial Intelligence, Scientific Discovery, and Product Innovation" clearly shows us that the future is happening before our eyes... Combining human wetware with software in real-time is already producing innovation improvements across the board. It is guaranteed to deliver outsized gains for R&D teams that adopt this future now! And for us, seeing the "aha" moment on our customers' faces daily never gets old! Human & Artificial Intelligence is the way!

10,000 innovations here we come 🚀

After a fun opening event at Slush, we're on the road today in Helsinki, visiting many of our customers and those we've previously worked with. We've even got a customer innovation to celebrate, so keep your eyes peeled for a slagroomtart... What's that you ask? One of our company traditions and a fun way to recognise our customers' work: https://lnkd.in/dCfmGKgW It's good to be back in Finland! #DutchAtSlush

That is a great wave of orange! It's good to see our very own Vincent Franken & Rik de Wilde right in the middle of the good vibes. Have fun, and good luck to everyone attending! #DutchatSlush

Why is the success rate for many R&D projects so tragically low? Since 2017 we've been a part of the R&D space helping teams solve almost 3000 challenges, and this is what we've seen: It's not budget. It's not talent. It's almost always that they choose the wrong mountain to climb that tends always to manifest itself in the same pattern: - Teams under immense scrutiny and time pressure rush the initial 'Find' stage - Too few technologies get evaluated in establishing a path forward - Solutions, therefore, get locked in too early - Millions get spent solving the wrong problem, or as we call it, climbing the wrong mountain Often, what helps is taking a step back and evaluating the right framing of the problem. Take the classic ladder problem: "We need a ladder to reach high windows" vs. "We need to increase working height" One leads to incremental improvement. The other opens doors to breakthrough innovation. Want to learn: ✓ How to avoid the 4 critical Find stage pitfalls ✓ A systematic approach to problem exploration ✓ Why functional analysis changes everything ✓ Real examples from food tech to semiconductors Read on for a little more perspective on how we think of R&D challenges, the Findest Way: "Why the Find Stage Makes or Breaks Your R&D Success: A Guide for Innovation Leaders in the age of AI" https://lnkd.in/dnYtxUKu

When we first took our R&D innovation quest beyond Dutch borders, Finnish companies were the first to embrace us and remain very close to our hearts. And next week, we're coming back to where our international journey began! Vincent Franken and Rik de Wilde will be at Slush in Helsinki, carrying on our sweetest tradition: delivering 'slagroomtaart' - a Dutch celebration cake that marks every innovation milestone with our customers. 🎂 It's fitting that we're bringing this Dutch delicacy to Finland, the country that first trusted our vision of accelerating innovation through AI. Have you innovated with Findest? (Let us know in the comments!) Are you going to be at Slush? Let's catch up over coffee (and some cake)! #slush2024

Catch our CEO, Vincent Franken, on the Honeypot Podcast, hosted by the brilliant pair Fredrik Heghammar & Alexander Wennerberg. Expect to learn: - The origin story of Findest and our mission to bridge the gap between scientific research and business application. - How our AI-powered platform, IGOR^AI, helps businesses uncover hidden gems in scientific literature and patents. - Why the future of technology scouting lies in human-AI collaboration, not replacement. - Vincent's top tips and advice for companies engaged in R&D and technology scouting. Great podcast and an even better episode, but we might be biased in that opinion!

Is your R&D team ready? When REACH's PFAS restrictions hit in 2025, will your R&D team be scrambling for substitutes, or seizing the opportunity for innovation? Our work demonstrates that the teams making the most progress don't have the biggest budgets or the most advanced labs. They're the ones taking a step back before leaping forward. We've observed that successful "alternative" projects share a common trait: thorough exploration before rushing to material substitution. This approach uncovers opportunities for innovation that rushed development would miss. Want to know how leading R&D departments are: ✅ Turning regulatory pressure into an innovation opportunity ✅ Finding superior alternatives by asking better questions ✅ Building future-proof solutions instead of quick fixes Then check out our latest article here: https://lnkd.in/dPBdhDe5 #PFAS

Wonder what our fellow R&D professionals can learn from 'Innovation Giants'? Turns out, quite a lot actually! Ever thought about how a company that invented digital cameras went bankrupt? Or how the creators of the graphical user interface missed out on the personal computer revolution? Innovation history is a tale of companies that simply ignored the signs, went down the wrong innovation path, stumbled upon something special by accident, or borrowed and made it better... For example: - Kodak: The photography pioneer that missed the digital picture - Xerox PARC: The visionaries who couldn't commercialise their own ideas - Apple: The master of refining others' innovations - 3M: Where a "failed" adhesive became a success - The Wright Brothers: The ultimate example of persistence These stories show us surprising truths about R&D: 1. Why cutting-edge tech isn't always the answer 2. The danger of climbing the wrong innovation "mountain" 3. How success can sometimes come from embracing failure Curious about the full stories and the lessons your R&D team can apply? Check out our latest article: "From Lab Coats to Greatness: What R&D Can Learn from 'Good to Great'" https://lnkd.in/dfUAqFWi