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The Peloton Club – a peer –incubator for resource smart startups

  • Published on July 8, 2015
Peloton Club is one of the largest acceleration programmes for new, user-powered solutions to housing, transportation and food in the Nordic countries. At its heart is the peer-incubator that brings together start-ups, large companies and the public sector. The Peloton approach supports different industries and organisations in developing products, services and social innovations. The target is to contribute towards making resource-smart and climate-friendly choices easy and attractive as well as to generate new profitable business opportunities. The concept includes several different methods and activities such as the Peloton workshop, Peloton Innovation Camp and the Peloton Club, which is a peer-incubator for resource-smart startups. Peloton was launched in 2009 and it has evolved from a single project into a way of thinking and a startup accelerator. The concept is managed by Demos Helsinki Oy and is financed by several different public and private partners.
Peloton Club provides consumers with new products and services that promote a more sustainable way of life. It does this by fostering new businesses in cleanteach and sustainable solutions, and by helping existing markets prepare for low-carbon innovations. Given that 80% of the average consumer's energy use is spent on housing, food and transportation, the bulk of Peloton's work is also concentrated on those three key sectors. The Peloton concept includes the following elements and activities: • Peloton workshops, where organisations from different industries develop environmentally friendly products and services into easy and desirable choices, while creating new business opportunities. • Peloton Innovation Camps, which help kick-start entirely new energy- and resource-smart businesses. • The Peloton Club, a peer-incubator in which start-ups and innovators spur each other on to create business ideas that change the world. • Peloton Business of Behaviour Change research project, which is part of a broader SHAPE Shaping Markets for Sustainability initiative, is a project that investigates ways to make markets more sustainable through co-created services. The target is to create opportunities for companies to develop their services together with various differet user product groups. At the same time, the changes in value chains forged by such joint work are modelled. Success Factors A participatory, iterative process has been important for the overall success of the concept. Active measures have been taken to keep the threshold of participation as low as possible, encouraging all relevant, potential partners to take part. Experienced moderators have been brought in to guide the processes, nurturing the networking and overall motivation of the teams, and facilitating the participation of various stakeholders in workshops and other events. Key Results and Achievements Recent successes include organizing the Finnish leg of the world's largest climate innovation competition, Climate Launchpad, as well as Smart Retro, an innovative new corporate venturing scheme for the built environment. Peloton Club also hosts monthly socials and puts on larger events, like Flow Talks, that help bring its core ideas of co-creation and quality discussions to the larger public. Novelty The concept represents an entirely new model for business incubators. It is unique in its way of including different stakeholders and engaging them in start-up operations. The innovation within startups is seen by Peloton as a driver for new market development, therefore benefitting the entire industry. Sustainability Impacts Peloton Club was established in 2006. Since then, it has run fifteen innovation workshops with hundreds of gatekeepers countless different industries. During the workshops, the companies have co-created dozens of new sustainable innovation concepts. Some of these have led to extremely successful new businesses. Challenges and potential for further development Formalising the process and ensuring the programme's overall continuity remain top priorities. The predictability of funding is also a challenge. In terms of impact, a common test for these kinds of initiatives is how successful they can upscale new and promising products and services. Peloton Club's international expansion and strengthened presence in Finland. Contact person for more information: Maria Ritola, maria.ritola@demos.fi

External source(s)

Project start date
01/01/2009
Project end date
01/01/2009

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