Studios & labs

Our team operates a diverse innovation studio portfolio, where we forge partnerships with leading corporations, government agencies, and foundations, all with the common goal of harnessing technology for transformational purposes. Our studios and labs are at the intersection of entrepreneurship, governance, and corporate innovation, serving as catalytic agents for progress. Through these collaborations, we signal the potential applications of cutting-edge technologies, establish effective ecosystems of external collaborators, and drive innovation that has a profound impact on cities and industries.

Headquarters

Planet Earth

Sectors

Coming Soon

Challenge

In a rapidly evolving technological landscape, many organizations, including corporations, government agencies, and foundations, struggle to effectively harness cutting-edge technologies to drive transformative change. The lack of a cohesive and strategic approach to innovation at the intersection of entrepreneurship, governance, and corporate innovation hinders progress, limits the identification of potential applications of emerging technologies, and impedes the establishment of efficient ecosystems of external collaborators. This, in turn, constrains the ability to drive innovation that can have a profound and positive impact on cities and industries.

100+

Ecosystem Partnerships to be established

20k

20,000 Jobs Created to be created

$2Bn

value to be created over the course of 10 years.

Fostering Collaborative Innovation

We work with industry leaders, governments, and entrepreneurs to address complex challenges

Our Studios & Labs unit is the heartbeat of collaborative innovation. We believe that the most profound solutions arise from the fusion of entrepreneurial talent with the pressing challenges faced by leading corporations, government agencies, and foundations. By acting as a bridge between these entities, we embark on a transformative journey to tackle the complex issues affecting cities and industries. Our partnerships extend to Fortune 500 companies and civic leaders, with whom we coalesce to craft agile teams. These teams work in close coordination with leadership to identify problems, design innovative solutions, and invest in outcomes that spark organic growth. As a testament to our commitment to innovation, members of AirDrop labs receive first-priority access to our innovation studios, ensuring they remain at the forefront of groundbreaking developments

Studio Process

Phases include focus area understanding, technology blueprinting, startup team assembly, and technology validation for long-term partnerships

Our Studio Process begins with a strategic kickoff. During this phase, we delve into the strategic focus areas of our partners, defining clear success criteria that guide our collaborative endeavors. Research follows as we create a technology blueprint backed by interdisciplinary teams. This blueprint serves as the foundation for the development of solutions that address specific focus areas, guided by design thinking principles. We then convene a cohort of thoroughly vetted startup teams, each dedicated to addressing identified needs and industry pain points. The culmination of this process is the Pilot Partnership phase, in which we design and deploy pilots with our startup teams. These pilots serve the dual purpose of validating technologies that are poised for impact and assessing their investment potential. This phase is integral to derisking future scalability, nurturing long-term partnerships, and fostering co-creation.

Partnerships

We prioritize partnerships to cultivate sustained relationships between stakeholders and startup teams

Partnerships are the lifeblood of our collaborative innovation model. Our operations place a strong emphasis on facilitating sustained relationships between studio stakeholders and startup teams. These partnerships are designed to yield mutually beneficial outcomes for all parties involved. By nurturing continued engagement and collaboration, we create an ecosystem where innovation is not just an isolated event but a continuous and iterative process. The successful partnerships we foster span across various domains, including energy, ethical AI, mobility, circular cities, data-driven urban transformation, and the future of work. Through partnerships, we are forging a path to a more innovative, interconnected, and prosperous future.