Wazoku

What Wazoku does

Wazoku is a UK-based enterprise innovation platform provider that combines a proprietary AI-powered software layer (Wazoku.ai) with the Innocentive open innovation marketplace, which connects enterprises to a network of over 1,000,000 solvers, startups, and subject matter experts. Founded in 2012 and headquartered in London with offices in Bristol and Delaware, the company serves global enterprises, government bodies, multilateral institutions, NGOs, and academic clients across verticals including financial services, pharmaceuticals, energy, water, defense, retail, and insurance — with named customers including HSBC, NASA, AstraZeneca, Waitrose, Aviva, ExxonMobil, UNDP, and Ericsson.

The platform is sold primarily as a Total Innovation License (subscription SaaS) bundling idea capture and crowdsourcing, portfolio governance with expected value (xV) scoring, AI-powered trend scanning and technology radar, startup scouting, and ecosystem relationship management. Wazoku monetizes through three streams: enterprise subscriptions on annual or multi-year terms, outcome-based professional services delivered by dedicated innovation delivery teams, and managed challenge hosting fees on Innocentive for clients running open innovation challenges with prize pools (e.g., ExxonMobil's $100,000 data centre cooling challenge). The company has grown largely through acquisition — completing five deals since 2020 (InnoCentive, Change, Mindpool, Idea Drop, PosterLab) — and has secured strategic distribution partnerships including InnoMatch for China access and a founding role in the Institute of Innovation Management alongside ISO 56001 alignment.

Wazoku's go-to-market is consultative enterprise field sales, evidenced by 'Request a Demo' and 'Speak to an Innovation Expert' CTAs, complemented by community-led demand generation through the Innocentive marketplace and content-led demand generation via the Total Innovation Podcast, resource center, and event programming. The company holds £8.5M in Series B funding (Sept 2022, Octopus Ventures + Calculus Capital) and a $2M growth line of credit from SaaS Capital (March 2022), with operations spanning the UK, continental Europe, the US, and China via partnership.

Name

Wazoku

Legal name

Wazoku

Website

https://wazoku.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

2014

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

51–100 employees

Short description

Wazoku is a UK-based enterprise innovation platform combining the AI-powered Wazoku.ai software with the Innocentive open innovation marketplace of 1,000,000+ solvers, serving global enterprises, governments, and multilateral institutions with subscription licenses, professional services, and managed challenge hosting.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Innovation Management Software

NAICS

Software Publishers (5132), Software Publishers (51321)

SIC

Services-Prepackaged Software (7372)

akta.pro primary industry

Enterprise Service Management (ESM) Platforms (HDAEALAB)

Keywords

• Innovation management software
• Open innovation marketplace
• Idea management platform
• Enterprise crowdsourcing
• Innovation portfolio governance

Headquarters

HQ city

London

HQ country

United Kingdom

HQ region

Europe

Offices3 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Software

Cost components

Personnel, Technology or R&D, Marketing or Sales, Operations, Infrastructure

Revenue model

1. Total Innovation License (SaaS Subscription): Enterprise organizations subscribe to the Wazoku.ai platform via a Total Innovation License, providing access to the full suite of innovation management capabilities. This is a recurring subscription revenue model with enterprise contracts typically sold on an annual or multi-year basis.
2. Innovation Services & Managed Programmes: Value-added services providing dedicated innovation delivery support, including managed challenge programmes, expert solver networks, full programme delivery, outcome-driven outsourcing, and end-to-end programme management. Staffed by dedicated teams and powered by the AI platform and global ecosystem.
3. Open Innovation Challenge Hosting (Innocentive): Hosts open innovation challenges on behalf of enterprise and government clients (e.g., UNDP, ExxonMobil, Starbucks, NICE). Organizations define problems and prize pools; Wazoku runs the challenge, attracts solvers, and delivers solutions. Revenue generated through challenge hosting fees.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion3 records

Distribution channels4 records

Marketing channels7 records

Core offering

Wazoku provides an enterprise innovation management SaaS platform (Wazoku.ai) that enables organizations to capture ideas, crowdsource solutions, prioritize portfolios, scout startups, and measure innovation ROI using AI-powered tools. Its Innocentive subsidiary operates a global open innovation marketplace connecting enterprises and governments to a network of over 1,000,000+ solvers, with Wazoku earning revenue through enterprise subscriptions, managed challenge programs, and outcome-driven outsourcing services.

Product overview

Wazoku offers a unified Total Innovation platform combining proprietary AI-powered technology (Wazoku.ai) with the Innocentive global marketplace. The portfolio includes core innovation management capabilities, managed services (Value-Added Services), and specialized research offerings (Adaptive Research), supported by an ecosystem of over 1,000,000+ solvers. The company has expanded through acquisitions including Mindpool (collective intelligence), Idea Drop (idea management), and PosterLab (R&D partnership, rebranded as Company Portal).

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• Innocentive: The world's largest open innovation ecosystem, combining synthetic intelligence with a human ecosystem of over 1,000,000+ solvers, startups, and subject matter experts.
• Wazoku.ai
• Total Innovation License

Products and services

• Wazoku.ai The ecosystem operating system that connects discovery, engagement, collaboration, governance, and value measurement in one place. Turns fragmented innovation activity into a connected, measurable, and scalable programme for enterprises, governments, NGOs, and academic institutions. Includes AI-powered trend scanning, technology radar, expected value (xV) scoring, real-time portfolio dashboards, and analytics.
• Innocentive The world's largest open innovation ecosystem combining synthetic intelligence with a human network of over 1,000,000+ solvers, startups, subject matter experts, and a marketplace of existing IP and inventions. Two-sided platform enabling enterprises and governments to post innovation challenges with prize pools and solvers to submit solutions, with 25 years of experience accelerating R&D value.
• Total Innovation License Enterprise subscription providing flexible, full-platform access to Wazoku's innovation management capabilities for global enterprises, government bodies, NGOs, research labs, and academic institutions. Includes idea capture, crowdsourcing, portfolio prioritization, startup scouting, ecosystem relationship management, value pipeline management, and outcome-driven outsourcing.
• Value-Added Services Managed innovation delivery services staffed by dedicated teams and powered by the Wazoku.ai platform and global ecosystem. Engagements are scoped to specific results with outcome-driven delivery including managed challenge programmes, expert solver networks, full programme delivery, measurable outcome contracts, and end-to-end programme management.
• Adaptive Research Synthetic research systems combining human expertise with ecosystem intelligence for adaptive research capabilities, enabling organizations to conduct external research and source insights at scale.

Quantifiable outcome

• Organizations moved from quarterly spreadsheet reviews to real-time dashboards, accelerating decision-making significantly (Aviva case)
• +3 more outcomes

Named customers11 records

Segments5 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed Yes

API detail

Has API

Yes

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

AI capability6 records

Feature5 records

Partnerships

Seven partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.

• Institute of Innovation Management (IIM)coreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 10 December 2025Wazoku is a founding partner of the Institute of Innovation Management (IIM), a cross-sector body launched to set standards, promote best practice, and strengthen capabilities of innovation leaders globally. Founding partners include Wazoku, E.ON, BSI Group, and magnetic. The institute aims to address the long-recognized lack of common standards, shared language, and consistent development pathways in the innovation profession, adhering to principles behind ISO 56001.
• UNDP (United Nations Development Programme)coreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 3 December 2025UNDP launched a global innovation challenge in partnership with Wazoku to crowdsource solutions for detecting and mapping underwater mines and unexploded ordnance in conflict-affected rivers, lakes, and coastal areas. The initiative leverages Wazoku's Innocentive network of over 700,000 problem-solvers, with submissions open until March 9, 2026. Future challenges will address youth mental health in crisis settings and community tools for real-time crisis data collection.
• ExxonMobilcoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 7 November 2025ExxonMobil launched an open innovation challenge via Wazoku's Innocentive platform to find next-generation liquid cooling solutions for high-density data centres, with submissions closing November 17, 2025 and a total prize pool of US$100,000. The challenge targets cooling demands driven by AI and cloud computing growth.
• InnoMatchcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerPartnership between Wazoku and InnoMatch, China's national-level open innovation platform, creates a two-way bridge enabling organizations worldwide to access China's innovation ecosystem through open innovation challenges syndicated via Wazoku's Innocentive platform. Chinese research teams, startups, and universities can submit proposals, while Chinese enterprises gain access to Wazoku's global network of over 700,000 innovators. The collaboration builds on Wazoku's prior partnership with the National Innovation Center par Excellence in China, and the first joint projects — a European pharmaceutical company challenge and a Chinese appliance manufacturer challenge — have already been completed successfully.
• National Innovation Center par ExcellenceminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerPrior partnership in China with the National Innovation Center par Excellence preceded the InnoMatch partnership, establishing Wazoku's initial presence in the Chinese innovation ecosystem before the two-way bridge with InnoMatch was established.
• UNDP (United Nations Development Programme)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerWazoku hosts UNDP's global innovation challenges through its Innocentive platform. Challenges include underwater mine detection (2025), crisis impact reporting tools (2026), youth mental health in crisis settings, and support for the UNDP's 'Don't Choose Extinction' campaign. The first challenge attracted 385 registered solvers from 61 countries. UNDP leverages Innocentive's network of over 700,000 problem-solvers.
• NICE (National Innovation Centre for Energy)minorStrategic or Co-development PartnerNICE (National Innovation Centre for Energy) engaged Wazoku to design and deliver an open innovation challenge (NICE innovation challenge) to find breakthrough maritime maintenance technology. German innovator Christoph Bültemann won with ClearSense, a ship shaft bearing clearance monitoring system, securing a $40,000 working fund and potential access to up to $4 million in further funding.

Scale indicators8 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights6 records

Direct peers

• Brightidea: Brightidea is an enterprise innovation management software platform offering idea capture, crowdsourcing, and innovation challenge management — directly comparable to Wazoku's idea management and challenge hosting capabilities for enterprise customers.
• HYPE Innovation: HYPE Innovation provides enterprise innovation management software covering idea management, portfolio evaluation, and open innovation — competing head-to-head with Wazoku.ai in mid-to-large enterprise deployments.
• IdeaScale: IdeaScale is a SaaS innovation management platform for crowdsourcing ideas and managing innovation challenges, overlapping with Wazoku's crowdsourcing, idea capture, and challenge hosting offerings across public-sector and enterprise clients.
• Innosabi: Innosabi is an open innovation and crowdsourcing platform serving enterprise clients with innovation programmes, challenges, and ecosystem engagement — directly comparable to the Innocentive open-innovation marketplace side of Wazoku's portfolio.
• NineSigma: NineSigma runs open innovation services and challenge-based R&D sourcing for global enterprises, overlapping with Wazoku's Innocentive marketplace and value-added innovation delivery services.
• Planbox: Planbox is an AI-powered innovation management platform combining idea management, open innovation, and portfolio capabilities for mid-to-large enterprises — directly comparable to Wazoku.ai's Total Innovation License.

Broad incumbents

• Planview (with Spigit): Planview acquired Spigit to embed innovation management within its broader portfolio and work management platform — overlapping with Wazoku.ai but with a significantly wider PPM/enterprise portfolio reach.
• SAP Innovation Management: SAP offers innovation management as part of its broader enterprise application suite, competing with Wazoku at the high end of enterprise procurement where bundled ERP-attached offerings can displace specialist platforms.

Emerging players

• Topcoder (now part of Wipro): Topcoder operates a global crowdsourcing community for technical problem-solving, comparable in concept to Innocentive's solver marketplace but with a narrower technology/talent focus.

Others

• Quirky (historical): Quirky pioneered consumer crowdsourced product invention as a two-sided innovation community — relevant as an adjacent open-innovation model though it ultimately failed; useful as a cautionary and conceptual peer for Innocentive's solver marketplace model.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/WazokuHq

Compliance4 records

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles11 records

Subsidiaries5 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds6 records

Investors7 records

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A4 records

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Wazoku