Innovation
We’ve built our careers working at the cutting edge of technology and innovation.
We were working with search engines, social networks and machine learning in the early 2000s, and have spent more than a decade working as global scouts; helping investors and corporates find the next big thing in disruptive innovation.
We’ve built our own prototyping studios for New Product Development (NPD) and spend our spare time hacking away with new tech - from laser scanners and 3D printers to Single Board Computers (SBCs) and Computer Numerical Control (CNC) machines.
We’re as excited about Artificial Intelligence (AI) as everyone else and have helped spec GPU cloud infrastructure with NVIDIA, built business models for ‘AI-ready’ data centres and are experimenting with neural networks in our garden to aid conservation efforts.
Services
New Product Development
We've setup our own prototyping studios twice, and are happiest hacking away at new product or service prototypes there.
Fascinated by the opportunities that new technologies enable - especially for production in developed, high-cost economies - we're always excited to collaborate on New Product Development (NPD) projects.
We've prototyped ranges of toys, drinks brands, bioacoustic listening devices, AI compute clusters and much more besides.
Come to us with your crazy ideas and let's create something entirely new together!
Horizon Scanning
For more than twenty years we've been building tools to help us keep ahead of the technology curve.
Having worked as technology scouts for clients as advanced as Inmarsat and Rolls-Royce we can help you stay ahead of the competition by maintaining a constant watch on what's coming next.
Artificial Intelligence
We were helping train machine learning classifiers for sentiment analysis almost twenty years ago, and have struggled to keep up ever since.
As generative AI has exploded in popularity over the the last few years we've been actively working with industry leaders like NVIDIA and SuperMicro on the hardware side, and are now testing the efficacy of agentic frameworks for rapid software prototyping.
Whether you're looking to setup a Retrieval Augmented Generation (RAG) pipeline atop proprietary data or simply wanting to experiment with generative tools for content generation / manipulation, Blackthorn can provide informed AI advice.
For those looking to get more hands-on we also have access to a team of experienced AI Research Engineers and Data Scientists in the UK and Europe keen to take on new applied AI research projects.
Clients
Confidential client
Work with a group of exited entrepreneurs in the data centre industry on future ventures.
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Strategic advisory - following eight-figure exit we supported a group of entrepreneurs in evaluating the viability of a range of concepts for new ventures
Fundraising - preparation of investor collateral, built pipeline of prospective investors
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Digital - designed a new brand identity and web presence, together with supporting collateral
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Partnerships - built network and positive reputation for client with relevant decision makers at top sector OEMs incl. NVIDIA, SuperMicro, Vast Data
B2B sales - provided assistance across range of B2B sales pipeline opportunities
Market entry and expansion - scoped and scouted for AI data centre market entry opportunities globally, driven by power price and availability
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Horizon scanning - provision of regular Artificial Intelligence (AI) market briefings + scouting for data centre development opportunities
New product development - built ground-up business model for GPU cloud business, scoped team requirements, competitors
Confidential client
Evaluation of new venture viability with German logistics company’s innovation lab.
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Strategic advisory - evaluated viability of new venture concepts within logistics industry, including li-ion battery recycling and computer vision for distribution centre operations
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Digital - development and delivery of pitch materials for new ventures, including video briefing for board and prospective partners
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Partnerships - engaged port owners for viability assessment of battery recycling business
B2B sales - scoped market sizing in Europe vs China, forecast battery recycling volumes
Market entry and expansion - worked with in-house analysts on predicting battery volumes in global markets and prioritised rollout accordingly
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Complex operations - detailed competitor research fed into blueprint for battery recycling plant operations at port-side, incl. associated technologies (eg. thermal runaway monitoring through computer vision, novel fire suppression systems, battery type indexing, state of charge detection)
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Horizon scanning - worked to identify future evolution of belt-driven logistics industry within mining / aggregates and logistics / distribution segments
New product development - built first plan for new battery recycling logistics service
The Ecology Co-op
Re-brand, re-launch and ongoing marketing support for group of ecology consultants
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Digital - re-design and re-launch of brand identity, collateral and web presence, ongoing social media and pay-per-click strategy and management
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B2B sales - drove a fresh, professional approach to bidding on tenders, including design and collation of professional bid documentation, supervising site visits, collecting feedback
Market entry and expansion - helped launch a range of new ecological services from Biodiversity Net Gain (BNG) and Rewilding to wintering bird surveys
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New product development - supported launch into new market segments including Biodiversity Net Gain (BNG), rewilding and wintering bird surveys nationwide