Kata Fonden or The Kata Foundation is a non-profit self-governing organization that serves to conduct research-based projects and activities that increase the knowledge and practice of Learning and Education, as well as Creativity andInnovation. The Foundation’s objective is to convert theoretical knowledge into concrete practice and communicate research and activities to the relevant target groups. In 2016, Kata introduced a “Suitable for Markets in Asia” initiative to help Danish companies overcome barriers when building and growing their business in the emerging Asian markets of India, Indonesia, The Philippines and Thailand.

APPROACH

Kata commissioned Eden Strategy Institute as its thought partner in delivering preparation seminars in each market, where Eden shared its knowledge on Asian Insights and how to localise and adapt offerings to Asian markets. Companies were equipped with practical toolkits such as the Design Thinking, Ethnography, Value Proposition Design, Business Model Canvas, Lean Launch, and Test Protocols in a series of interactive workshops, and shared their learning journeys and advice with each other in a safe, collaborative environment over four months. In addition, they were brought through real-life innovation journeys with external speakers from Asian Institute of Management, Bolt Super 4G, C&C Advisory Partners, ChangeFusion, DB Schenker, Essilor, GSK, GoTasty, Gunung Sewu Kencana, Mikkeller Bar, Mundipharma, and Xerox.

IMPACT

The participants consistently rated the facilitation and mentoring performance of Eden consultants as “very high” in all four markets. One of the participants, Pradeep David, General Manager for India at Universal Robots A/S, described the experience with one of Eden’s facilitators, “Calvin is truly a dynamic visionary, enthusiastic entrepreneur and a deep business strategist. He goes out of his way to explain complex details and is a truly gifted natural mentor. With the rare ability to capture the imagination of an audience, and hold it through difficult management explanations, his passion for the subject is contagious.” At the end of this engagement, several companies were selected for additional funding from Kata to implement their growth and market access plan in the market.