Innovation Brokers

Stefan Kuipers

Stefan Kuipers has focused on New Business Development for the high-tech industry since 2006. This involves important elements of market research and market development. Market research provides new insights into the market and its potential, while market development involves making important contacts in the market and/or the relevant ecosystem.

Market research/market exploration

• Market size, trends and developments, opportunities and threats (market segments: existing and/or new, regions and countries: existing and/or new).
• Identifying new opportunities and markets
• Spotting market trends (and translating these into new propositions)
• Strategy: which market segments, how do we scale up in terms of TRL and which approach in terms of marketing?
• Prospect identification and qualification
• Market development: new business, RFQ’s and contacts in the market.

Many high-tech companies focus mainly on the technological side of the newly developed product and realise (too) late that market potential also plays a decisive role. An important role that Kuipers plays is to test pioneering innovations with potential customers in order to identify the requirements and wishes of those potential customers. In this way, we ensure that high-tech companies develop innovative products and services that the market is actually waiting for (not: ‘We build this because we can’, but rather: ‘We build this because the market demands it’).

• Added value: extensive knowledge of and contacts with OEMs, suppliers (1st & 2nd tier) and production companies at home and abroad.
• Geography: worldwide, but specialisation on Northwest Europe: the Netherlands, Belgium, Germany, UK, Scandinavia.
• Areas of operation: machine building, machining, panel building, electronics, robotics, subassemblies, industrial automation, frequency drives, engineering, sheet metal and construction work, equipment construction, composites, piezo systems, lubricants and coolants, etc.