Digital Industry Program 2017: What Acceleration Looks Like for Digital Industrial Start Ups

In 2016, GE Digital’s European Foundry launched the inaugural Digital Industry Program — a competition to find some of the best digital industrial start-ups in Europe.

In addition to receiving funding, the winning companies had the opportunity to grow their businesses by accessing GE’s installed base of industrial businesses, as well as its network of major industrial customers.

The final winners were then put through a 12 week acceleration programme at GE Digital’s European Foundry in Paris.

To mark the launch of the 2017 Competition, we spoke to some of the team to help applicants understand what they can expect if they are successful in their 2017 application.

From concept to business, 12 weeks of acceleration with GE

The five applications designed by 2016’s Digital Industry Challenge winners are now available on GE Digital’s PREDIX store, following an intensive acceleration period. Business, technical developments, UX design… the start-ups and the staff at GE Digital’s European Foundry worked hand in hand for 12 weeks to produce efficient applications that meet all of the expectations of industry. Let us look at an open innovation demonstration!

Adaptability rules

“We have proceeded in stages: a two weeks’ business case development. A 4-week phase for PREDIX training and MVP (Minimum Viable Product) development, followed by a prototype development phase, and ending with a business-focused conclusion on GE businesses and our wider ecosystem,” explains Vincent Champain, Managing Director of GE Digital’s European Foundry. In the course of those 12 weeks, GE adapted to the specific needs of every winner so as to provide them with bespoke support.

As for the start-ups, the idea was for them to quickly match market needs. Cosling CEO Jean-Guillaume Fages explains how he had to turn around at the very start of acceleration. “Our objective was to be able to sell the solution once our cooperation had ended. But after noticing that our initial solution lacked in maturity, we decided to turn around. We spoke with GE’s sales department and realized that there existed a great opportunity in logistics issues. So we adapted our algorithm, and from hydroelectricity we moved to pallet loading optimization.” For its part, Irlynx considers that technical adaptation turned out to be the most time-consuming. “You cannot instantly master a new framework. PREDIX is undoubtedly the most advanced platform on the market, and GE staff guided us in taking charge,” explains Irlynx Sales Director Guillaume Crozet.

In order to overcome those obstacles with ease, GE had to demonstrate the same ability to adapt. Vincent Champain believes that “what is most important is to have enough resources to provide everything that the start-ups need.” This mandatory flexibility has mobilized the entire staff, especially Jeremy Barata, who is in charge of the project. “At GE Digital, we are the point of contact between the professional experts and the start-ups. Our collaboration is open, just like the Foundry gates.”

The business aspect in the crosshairs

The reason that speedy execution and agile teams are key elements is above all because the young companies have no time to lose. The prospect of a tangible collaboration is vital. “Thanks to a quick implementation we are in a position to demonstrate the project’s value in concrete terms. First we held UX workshops in-house, prior to going out in the field with GE Grid and the municipality of Rueil Malmaison,” explains Evolution Energy Managing Director Fabien Imbault. This is something that can be observed with all of the winners: acceleration must be focused on the business aspect. This requirement is perfectly understood on the part of GE, who has similar intentions, namely to provide its customers with new services as quickly as possible, even if it means going beyond the initial scheme. “During acceleration, we noticed that Citizen Data was providing an excellent time-series ingestion service. Now they are directly working on GE’s own service!” Jeremy Barata concludes.

Do you work for a digital industrial start-up? If you are interested in joining the 2017 Digital Industry Program, visit http://digital-industry.io