Pilot Experiments

Aersea: Sustainable Business development for scale ups with the digital shift as driving factor

  Norway, Agder

  DIH Oceanopolis

Experiment objective

The objective of the pilot is:

  1. to explore in an advanced digital lab (mil-as.no) if increased use of digital tools can contribute to further mature their technology and products and increase productivity.
  2. start a structured business development process in a lab to focus on how data can be converted to new and/or improved services in existing and new markets and how this might influence their business model.
  3. engage the company in a hackathon with digital and business development experts to use the results from step 1 and 2 to increase productivity in existing business markets and develop potential products for new markets based on the competence and technology of the company. The target is to develop a viable business plan that describes how the companies can achieve TRL 8-9, and a basis to seek funding from early investors in Norway or Europe including the EIC Accelerator.

Challenges

The main challenge of the pilot experiment is to provide Aersea with the necessary administrative capacities and competence to develop a market and business that will enable them to approach investors and/or funding from sources like the EIC Accelerator program or similar funding. To be able to fulfil the requirements of the application process the company needs to develop a business and market plan for the product/services. The team members of Aersea count with the technical insights and competencies, but they are lacking competence and staff to develop/create the required business scenario.

Implementation Solution

To evaluate the need for further development of the company’s products and/or services, the management of the company is invited to an advanced digital lab, Mechatronics Innovation Lab (www.mil-as.no), to test different types of digital tools that can enhance their productivity and/or the services and products.

After this session, a business development process will start in a Business Development Lab (BDLab), www.bdlab.no to create a business scenario to understanding of the factors that might affect the company in the current and potential future markets.  This will be done by an organized hackathon with digital and business development experts. 

The target is to develop a viable business plan that describes how the companies can achieve TRL 8-9, and a basis to seek funding from early investors in Norway or Europe including the EIC Accelerator.

Results Obtained

The main results/benefits of the experiment are:

  • Established a business plan 2021-2025 with clear directions regarding digitalization and future investments in digital tools where digitalization and internal data management has been designated as highly prioritized area.
  • An improved internal data management platform developed during this experiment.
  • Increased efficiency of capturing and analysing data as well as reporting of results.
  • Improved routines for data storage, labelling and search.
  • Increased customer satisfaction.
  • Improved company image.

Possibility to further develop the data management platform to include 3D modelling, launching autonomous flight operations and usage of AI tools.

Impact of the experiment

The main impact of the experiment is the significant revenue increase experienced by Aersea, together with having an internal process tailored to the customers’ needs, which makes approaching customers much easier. Additionally, other improvements have been experienced such as the establishment of the company’s communication plan, the reconsideration of the company image and the development of web presence.