Case Studies - click to learn more about how we work with startups and enterprises
A home automation company sought to expand into the North American market.
In the glamorous film and movie production world of Hollywood, there are
Blockchain technology holds a lot of promise for a variety of industrial
The company is a 40-year-old company in the bay area known for its high
The company is a startup with a unique value proposition in the vision care market.
Connected Devices, Smart Home and Cities
A home automation company sought to expand into the North American market. Emulating other Chinese competitors, the company opened an online sales channel to tap into the Do-It-Yourself segment, but was disappointed with the sales volumes. They needed a comprehensive go to market plan and execution to position them as a leader in the space. Requiring more than a project or product mindset, the executive management engaged IDL to help overhaul the overall business trajectory.
The IoT industry has long struggled with the ultimate use case. Partly because the market adoption has been slow as interoperability continues to be a big issue. Companies have launched all sorts of point solutions, but there was never a platform that interconnected these solutions meaningfully. IDL worked with the company to create an interconnected platform that worked seamlessly across Wi-Fi, Zigbee and Z-wave devices along with the larger automation systems including Crestron and Control4. Second, we helped the company pivot from a consumer to a B2B strategy, creating new distribution channels. Thirdly, we helped expand the company’s operations in Latin American, showcasing the value proposition of affordable smart home solutions.
IDL worked with the company and strategically positioned it at Google I/O as an early-access partner to interact with compatible smart home devices through the Google Assistant. IDL also helped create a strategic partner program with Amazon Alexa and other smart home solutions to create a hub for security, lighting and voice controlled smart homes.
Total Investment: $7M+
Media and Entertainment, Hollywood, Production Studio
In the glamorous film and movie production world of Hollywood, there are two major challenges: access to investment grade productions and transparency of earnings as the productions are monetized. The term Hollywood accounting has been rather infamous for opaque methods used by the industry to budget and record profits for film projects. A new studio decided to usher in a new era of transparency and create a transformational business model by making the asset class accessible to retail investors. Proteum (IDL’s blockchain brand) was sought out by the CEO to help create the architecture and business strategy
Media and entertainment companies are at the cusp of rapid transformation. With new technologies such as blockchain, AR/VR, and other connected devices, these production houses are continuously adapting to changing audience preferences and how content is consumed. We partnered with the Hollywood studio to deploy blockchain technology and create a security token (equity) built on the Ethereum platform which allows fractionalized ownership in film, television, music and other IP-driven content where every day qualified investors can, for the very first time, participate in the Hollywood industry in a capacity previously available only to large, elite institutions. This allows for an equitable and transparent distribution of the production’s profits to all the profit participants. In the process we also helped create and tap into synergies between the China and Hollywood film industries.
Proteum was instrumental in creating the tokenization platform and the necessary infrastructure for investors to participate in this unique offering. In addition, we created a complete regulatory roadmap for compliance with jurisdictional laws in the US, Europe and parts of Asia. The robust strategy and tech platform allowed the studio to raise $100M+ in institutional investment in a “a game-changing moment for the entertainment industry”.
Digital Credentials, Supply Chain
Blockchain technology holds a lot of promise for a variety of industrial use cases. However, companies have struggled to create a strong value proposition to make a case for enterprises to start adopting the technology. As with connected devices, the blockchain industry has not evolved to consider the challenges associated with interoperability and as such, while most companies are focused on innovative yet niche applications, enterprises have found it hard to scale it beyond Proofs of Concepts (PoCs) and adapt to a diverse set of regulatory environments. The company is engaged with IDL to create an adoption ecosystem.
Our significant experience at the intersection of innovative technology, business models and regulatory compliance quickly enabled us to think broadly and strategically about how to create and nurture an ecosystem of partners. We began with an objective analysis of the market readiness for blockchain technology and zeroed in on applications that are more mature. Our conversations with CXOs across industries and business units helped us surface their priorities, expectations and ideas. We understood that to be successful, the company needed a strong enterprise backing to overcome the hurdles of organizational readiness to technology and privacy issues.
As a first step, IDL pushed the company to create interoperability tools to integrate with the tech stack of a Fortune 100 cloud service provider and create a joint go-to-market program to tap into three markets: digital credentials, supply chain and trade finance solutions. From an interoperability standpoint, IDL is also instrumental in exploring standardization of the company’s technology for ushering in transparency in the logistics industry.
Telecommunication, 5G
The company is a 40-year-old company in the bay area known for its high quality telecom equipment. With over 8500 customers worldwide, the company enjoyed a stellar reputation for its products. When the founder passed away without a succession plan, the company was able to survive for almost 3 years on an autopilot mode, just by fulfilling inbound sales orders. When a stable new management took over, IDL was tapped by the company’s law firm to help re-energize the company, usher in new product roadmap and reposition the company on a growth track.
IDL worked closely with the CEO and the management team of the company. Early on, we identified that the company’s product mix was not in keeping with the changing landscape of telecom demand and the company was saddled with extra inventory that weighed on its ability to be innovative. IDL help optimize the product mix, helped recruit new team and enabled them to create new products. This allowed the company not only to diversify its revenue stream but also show to its customers that they are innovating with the times and aiming to reclaim their glorious past. IDL also helped in establishing an improved supply chain and manufacturing operations overseas in order for the competitive to be cost effective.
IDL played a key role in ensuring that the company re-energized its channel partners and distributors across the globe, incentivizing them accordingly for increased sales. For an improved product mix, the company was able to launch products to cater to white space opportunities in the telecom spectrum, focusing on instrumentation and testing in the sub 1GHz category. In addition, IDL helped the company identify and engage with overseas contract manufacturers in Philippines, China and India to cater to the adjacent market demand and lower their cost structure.
Healthcare, AI
The company is a startup with a unique value proposition in the vision care market. The eye care market is defined by optometrists and ophthalmologists who routinely work together to deliver patient care. The vision space is image heavy and relies on visual data. As a result, it is imperative to capture, store and transfer patient data securely and in a way that it can be shared easily amongst the service providers. However, today, most providers do not have the proper tools to share data or the insights learned through data with their fellow care givers. As a result tests have to be repeated and care is often delayed. IDL worked with the founding team to create a blueprint on how these inefficiencies could be eliminated.
IDL incubated the company from day one and partnered up with both ophthalmologists and optometrist practices to understand how they captured, stored, utilized and shared patient data. We brought in expertise from both the medical providers and software engineers to architect a solution that can cater to the needs of various participants in the value chain.
The company is in stealth mode and IDL serves as an operational partner to the management, helping create strategic partnerships with ophthalmic equipment manufacturers, pharmaceutical and drug companies and potential investors.