Beyond Business for Bosch

people talking in front of a bosch poster

For more than 135 years, Bosch has been changing the world with breakthrough inventions and a restless entrepreneurial spirit ultimately creating and shaping entire new markets from scratch. Along with Bosch Corporate Research and a wide range of partners, we fuse ambition with years of experiences and scientific expertise to beyond expected business approaches and push transformational solutions to market on a global scale.

Rising above the Innovator’s Dilemma

Bosch is thriving with entrepreneurial minds, big ideas and bold business models. That’s why we are taking charge – ensuring that the Innovator’s Dilemma can be overcome.

In regions worldwide, various Bosch business units are providing proven solutions that successfully serve customer needs, which results in incremental innovation progress. On the other hand, Bosch’s emerging start-ups must design disruptive new business models as fast as possible.

The two distinct systems must co-exist in order to overcome the Innovator’s Dilemma – the more an innovator strives to create change within an established business, the stronger the forces to maintain the successful status quo. The result: disruptive businesses are quickly abandoned.

In today’s dynamic business landscape, Bosch must strategically innovate while continuing to understand the importance of all crucial business areas. Beyond Business thus delivers a new dimension to the innovation landscape in which entrepreneurial start-up cultures can contribute to corporate strategies and thrive within the larger ecosystem.

Every day, companies go out of business because they fail to rejuvenate their business models and product portfolio, which leads to them being disrupted by often much smaller and nimble new entrants. Yet, I’m convinced that these established giants possess unique deep-rooted advantages to spearhead their own innovative solutions.
Sean Ammirati, Venture Capitalist and Prof. of Entrepreneurship at Carnegie Mellon University

Innovating beyond the core together

The future of Bosch will be driven by the dynamic interplay between optimizing the familiar and venturing into the unknown. Measured yet bold, this focus is best illustrated by three key dimensions: Core Business, Adjacent Business and Beyond Business.

Core Business: Strengthening the backbone

Bosch’s Core Business is driven by proven technology and efficient business structures, allowing the company to effectively answer customer requirements. As the backbone of Bosch, this dimension delivers predictable revenue for multiple business units working in diverse industries. Bosch capitalizes on its proven expertise and knowledge to maintain global market presence and profitability.

Adjacent Business: Expanding existing expertise

At the intersection of familiarity and discovery, Bosch’s Adjacent Business comes to life via the development of new products and services that innovatively leverage existing expertise and resources.

For example, Bosch may understand a key market demand, but has yet to create the ideal technology. Conversely, cutting-edge technology might be developed before crafting the perfect strategy to satisfy user needs. To realize the potential of Adjacent Business, Bosch must simultaneously explore known territories and new frontiers.

Beyond Business: Redefining traditional boundaries

More than simply a corporate area, Beyond Business must be a mindset at Bosch. It is where grow platform resides, helping to launch disruptive innovations, products and business models that anticipate and serve future customer needs in breakthrough ways.

Beyond Business encapsulates Bosch’s forward-thinking DNA, guiding the company as it explores new horizons and sets new standards of real-world impact. Together with Bosch, grow platform is proactively transforming tomorrow by funding game-changing businesses today.

Unleashing Bosch’s intrapreneurial spirit

Success is driven on multiple fronts: engineers and researchers developing outstanding technologies, managers efficiently leading teams and operations, and daring intrapreneurs and innovators disrupting businesses in new markets.

While each role works with a distinct mindset, they depend on each other’s know-how in order to turn new technologies into new businesses. grow platform is nurturing a strong entrepreneurial spirit and collaborative culture – crucial key elements to enable a tailored landscape and environment in which high-potential Beyond Business projects can thrive.

As Home of Bosch Intrapreneurs, grow platform and its start-ups rely strongly on Bosch’s global resources, especially when it comes to technology expertise and intellectual properties via Corporate Research as well as global presence or reputation of the entire Group.

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Even the best invention comes second to knowing how to start a business. Inventing technologies only brings value if we know how to turn top technologies into new businesses.
Karsten Roenner, General Manager grow platform

Beyond Business applied

At grow platform, intrapreneurs have the autonomy and flexibility to innovate alongside strong support from Bosch. Today, our start-ups are constantly pushing to scale digital business innovations around the world.

Bosch Digital Twin Industries delivers efficiency in operations and maintenance. Its AI-powered solution creates a cyber physical system – a digital twin – of different machines and systems that allows operators to predict downtimes and errors, as well as schedule maintenance.

The solution was developed in close cooperation with Bosch Corporate Research, Bosch Connected Industry and the North American Bosch Rexroth unit. External partners such as Microsoft, AWS and Hewlett Packard Enterprises also help to bring the solution to life.

grow platform is bridging the gap to Bosch central services delivering access to regional resources, legal expertise, data governance and more. At the same time, the platform itself enables the start-up with strategic and operational support to develop and expand its business. Combined, all resources and support are always on hand.

“Our unique position as a Bosch start-up via grow platform amplifies our potential. With Bosch’s global footprint spanning more than 60 countries, we are able to validate business opportunities across regions simultaneously, using the lean start-up approach.”

Hemanth SM, CEO of Bosch Digital Twin Industries

Emerging as a pioneer in its industry, copperdot is a full-service solution to procure printed circuit boards (PCB). The Bosch start-up is revolutionizing the PCB purchasing landscape, crafting a smart and seamless experience – with unmatched support from grow platform and Bosch.

As problems arise between PCB designers and PCB manufacturers, copperdot is bridging the gap between design, manufacturing, and procurement. Its breakthrough service uses AI-based engines for design, cost and supply processing optimization.

The start-up relies on Bosch’s robust PCB experience of more than 50 years. With strong know-how in design, assembly, and cost efficiency, as well as a reliable supplier base, grow platform elevates copperdot to transform the PCB industry.

“We are leveraging Bosch’s PCB expertise to ensure unparalleled design, layout and quality. Through strategic demand bundling and AI-driven solutions, we not only offer the best fit for customer needs, but also the finest quality at competitive rates. With grow platform and Bosch, we are revolutionizing PCB purchasing.”

Philipp Spies, CEO of Copperdot

team colleagues from Digital Twin IAPM and the head of copperdot

Bringing the spirit to life

Going from big ideas to disruptive business models to real-world impact is driven by scientific literature and methodologies. At grow platform, our approach relies on significant research and learnings across industries to ensure effective outcomes that keep pace with unprecedented change:

Operate as a separate entity

By separating its Core Business and Beyond Business into legal and autonomous entities, corporations can enhance performance, productivity, and innovative output. This approach – identified by Harvard Business Review, MIT Sloan Management Review, and other leading institutions – allows Beyond Business to thrive with ownership, responsibility, and active management. Enabled with risk-oriented organizational setup, grow platform and its start-ups can operate with adapted strategies and regulations to better meet changing conditions.

Develop intellectual property

In an increasingly connected, digitized and competitive world, Beyond Business relies on technological leadership that fosters cutting-edge inventions and engineering excellence. At grow platform, we collaborate with Bosch Corporate Research which is developing, owning, and realizing a strong intellectual property (IP) and patent portfolio for the Group.

Form global partnerships

While the time between breakthrough inventions is exponentially decreasing, the technologies are becoming increasingly complex beyond a single creator’s abilities. That’s why co-innovation and collaboration are critical for success at grow platform. By working together in global partnerships, joint ventures, or cross-regional collaboration groups, we can successfully deploy and scale disruptive business models at faster speed with greater reach.

Enact a lean start-up approach

At grow platform, innovation isn’t a straight path. It’s a cycle that runs on the Build-Measure-Learn methodology, guiding all business-relevant areas and team in both thought and action. Similar to the scientific methods of hypothesis testing, experimentation and refinement, the Build-Measure-Learn feedback cycle allows start-ups to improve their development processes and become more agile and customer-centric. The quicker a start-up can cycle through, the faster it can learn and adapt.

Embrace a failure culture

The freedom to take risks, to fail, to disrupt industries. At grow platform, we embrace a failure-friendly culture with commitment to transparency and psychological safety. We allow teams and individuals to learn and evolve with unlimited creativity and curiosity, opening the door to greater exploration and breakthrough innovations. Every failure is an opportunity to gain new insights, refine approaches and push the boundaries of what’s possible.

Achieve and maintain operational excellence

Operational excellence is the heartbeat of every successful start-up – from establishing a strong culture and launching a product to scaling around the world and achieving profitability. It is driven by the Build-Measure-Learn cycle that allows start-ups to think and act quickly, then refine necessary elements along the way. At grow platform, we maintain operational excellence by continuously improving our services and developing our teams.

The connection between technology, product innovation, and business models must be developed from the beginning.

"To drive and successfully implement transformational innovation, we need to bring together ambitious people with diverse competencies, backgrounds and perspectives in a unique working environment: grow platform, our home for Bosch intrapreneurs.” – Thomas Kropf, President Bosch Corporate Research

Above & Beyond for Bosch

In the spirit of disruption through partnerships, grow platform in collaboration with Bosch Corporate Research created Above & Beyond. More than simply an event, Above & Beyond is an initiative to empower both technological- and innovation leadership at Bosch.

Above & Beyond is an undertaking driven by future optimism, merging daring innovation and disruptive actions with robust tradition and established strategies to lay out the groundwork for future success.

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Funding Beyond Business

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