Idea management software and services firm Wazoku has announced a new funding round of £1.25m, led by Enterprise Investment Scheme (EIS) and Venture Capital Trust (VCT) specialist, Calculus Capital, supported by other shareholders and members of the Wazoku management team.
Its software enables organisations to gather, manage, develop, analyse and implement ideas that solve real business problems and identify new opportunities, to achieve both innovation and strategic objectives.
Wazoku is also continuing its expansion with the acquisition of US open innovation firm InnoCentive’s assets.
InnoCentive has a global network of almost 500,000 ‘problem solvers’ comprising CEOs, PhD students, engineers, scientists, entrepreneurs, retired technologists and business leaders. The US firm’s clients have included AstraZeneca, NASA and Enel.
Wazoku reports that the newly acquired firm has a75% success rate in solving challenges. It said the new assets makes Wazoku the “world’s biggest innovation community and broadest innovation offering.”
Simon Hill, CEO at London-based Wazoku said: “Further funding and a strategic acquisition mean we are better positioned than ever and have a strong and established US presence. Workplaces are becoming inherently open and collaborative and we can offer the tools, services and collective expertise to help global businesses of all sizes solve problems and create opportunities.”
“The rapid shift to remote working and the need for engaging dispersed networks as well as the on-going need to innovate and solve problems, has seen a significant increase in demand for both our idea management and open innovation services.”
He said the firm will continue to invest in new talent in both Europe and the US, and in product development.
Alpheus Bingham, CEO and co-founder of InnoCentive added: “Our customers have long demanded a platform that integrates internal idea management with external crowdsourcing.
“This enables multiple modes of innovation within the same workflow and on the same digital backbone and the combination of Wazoku and InnoCentive capability offers precisely that. No other firm has the experience and capability of crowdsourcing, idea management and open innovation that this combined proposition brings. The possibilities and potential are hugely exciting.”