A new Orlando program sets out to prove startups aren't the only businesses capable of innovation.
Two local tech founders on Oct. 15 announced the launch HyperValidation, a program to provide companies with innovation consulting to stay on the cutting edge.
Informulate LLC CEO and Orlando Tech Council Chair Rajiv Menon and Stax co-founder and Executive Vice President Jacques Fu started the program to use "innovation methodology" to help established firms innovate their products, businesses practices and more.
"If your speed of learning isn't faster than your competitor, then you won't be able to keep up," Menon said.
HyperValidation is meant to blend the benefits of conferences, workplace training and mentorship into one program, Menon said. It will be a three-day event that takes companies through the theory of innovation and makes them apply it to develop prototypes, strategies and more. Meanwhile, HyperValidation will act as networking events since representatives of multiple companies will work through the program at the same time.
A focus of HyperValidation is the practice of innovation, not just coaching. Fu compared it to the importance of practice in sports, which increases "stickiness" in what's learned.
Despite the importance of innovation in staying ahead of competition, the emphasis on innovation dropped off among businesses during the pandemic. A survey of executives by consulting firm McKinsey found the percentage of business leaders who listed innovation as the company's No. 1 or No. 2 priority fell 32 points from before the pandemic to June 2020. McKinsey contributes that drop to businesses focusing on short-term issues as they navigated the economic uncertainty of the past 18 months.
The program's public presence will ramp up in the next six months. HyperValidation plans to hold its first event by March, Menon said.
The launch of HyperValidation was announced at Synapse Orlando, an annual technology and innovation summit organized by Tampa-based Synapse. The event, last held in Orlando in 2019, was expected to draw up to 2,000 attendees to the Dr. Phillips Center for the Performing Arts in Orlando, as well as virtual attendees.
Learn more about HyperValidation at its website.
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