What ID8 Innovation does

ID8 Innovation (legal entity Hollew Innovation, LLC) is a privately held, US-based innovation consultancy founded in 2017 that serves Fortune 500 and Fortune 1000 enterprises, including Nestle, CarMax, Canon, Goodyear, Cargill, Harley-Davidson, Kaiser Permanente, GS1, and the Las Vegas Convention & Visitors Authority. The firm operates with a small team (1-10 employees) and delivers a platform-plus-services model through direct enterprise engagement, targeting lean corporate innovation teams, corporate development and strategy leaders, and IP/R&D owners who need to demonstrate results without expanding headcount.

The core technology is the Nexus platform, a proprietary AI-enabled research and monitoring system that uses a Retrieval-Augmented Generation (RAG) architecture over a curated vector database to produce continuous streams of strategic insights, with guardrails intended to limit hallucination. Nexus underpins a portfolio of seven professional service lines: Focus Area Monitoring (powered by Nexus), Incubations and Venture Building, Venture Clienting, Strategy and Program Design, IP Monetization, AI Innovation, and Corporate Venture Capital advisory. Engagement structures are project-based or retainer-based, pricing is quote-based and not publicly disclosed, and go-to-market is relationship-driven enterprise field sales supported by content marketing, LinkedIn presence, and conference participation.

In 2024, ID8 extended beyond pure advisory by forming a venture studio partnership with Unlimit Ventures and launching CLYR as their first joint venture, an AI-enabled air quality monitoring hardware company, indicating an emerging equity-and-venture-creation dimension on top of the services core. No funding rounds, revenue figures, or institutional investors are disclosed, and the company remains privately held under its DBA.

Name

ID8 Innovation

Legal name

Hollew Innovation, LLC

Website

https://id8innovation.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

2017

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

ID8 Innovation is a US-based innovation consultancy that serves Fortune 1000 enterprises with an AI-enabled research platform (Nexus) and seven service lines spanning venture building, CVC advisory, IP monetization, and innovation strategy.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Corporate Innovation Consulting

NAICS

Computer Systems Design Services (541512), Other Computer Related Services (541519), Software Publishers (5132)

SIC

Services-Management Consulting Services (8742), Services-Engineering, Accounting, Research, Management (8700), Services-Prepackaged Software (7372)

akta.pro primary industry

Data, Analytics & AI Consulting (BPAHAEAF)

akta.pro secondary industries

Emerging Tech (IoT, Blockchain, AR/VR, Edge) Consulting (BPAHAEAL), AI/ML Engineering & Model Development Services (BPAEAHAF)

Keywords

• Corporate innovation consulting
• Venture building services
• Innovation strategy consulting
• Corporate venture capital
• Innovation research platform

Headquarters

HQ city

San Francisco

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

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

Revenue model

1. Innovation Consulting Services: ID8 operates as a professional services consultancy offering strategic innovation services to enterprises. Revenue is generated through client engagements for services including Focus Area Monitoring, Incubations & Venture Building, Venture Clienting, Strategy & Program Design, IP Monetization, AI Innovation, and Corporate Venture Capital advisory. These are typically project-based or retainer engagements with enterprise clients.

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels1 record

Marketing channels3 records

Core offering

ID8 Innovation is a boutique innovation consultancy that helps Fortune 500 and Fortune 1000 enterprises design and execute corporate innovation programs, build and launch new ventures, and access external startup innovation. The firm pairs professional services with a proprietary AI-powered platform called Nexus, which uses Retrieval-Augmented Generation (RAG) to continuously monitor strategic focus areas and accelerate qualitative research for client innovation teams.

Product overview

ID8 Innovation is an innovation consultancy offering a platform-plus-services model. The core technology is the Nexus platform, a proprietary AI-powered research and monitoring platform that enables continuous strategic focus area monitoring and qualitative research acceleration. Complementing the platform are seven professional services: Focus Area Monitoring (powered by Nexus), Incubations & Venture Building, Venture Clienting, Strategy & Program Design, IP Monetization, AI Innovation, and Corporate Venture Capital. Services can be engaged independently or in combination with the Nexus platform.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• Nexus: A technology platform for continuous monitoring of strategic focus areas and acceleration of qualitative research, powered by AI and automation.

Products and services

• Nexus Platform A proprietary AI- and automation-powered platform for continuous monitoring of strategic focus areas and acceleration of qualitative research, combining automated data aggregation with expert-curated insights. Designed for enterprise innovation teams seeking living streams of intelligence on emerging trends, startup activity, technology shifts, and whitespace opportunities.
• Focus Area Monitoring Continuous research streams aligned to client strategic priorities, combining automated data aggregation with expert-curated insights powered by the Nexus platform to capture startup activity, technology shifts, competitive movements, and academic developments.
• Incubations & Venture Building Design, validation, and launch of new corporate ventures with founder-driven discipline and entrepreneurial execution, covering concept development through market launch for enterprise clients seeking to incubate internal or joint ventures.
• Venture Clienting Accelerated access to external innovation through startup pilots built for scalability inside the enterprise, including minimum viable purchases and structured experiments with emerging technology providers.
• Strategy & Program Design Design of innovation strategies, portfolios, and programmatic approaches tailored to organizational needs, including governance model design and establishment of systematic innovation programs for enterprise clients.
• IP Monetization Identification, packaging, and commercialization of underleveraged intellectual property through licensing, spinouts, or asset sales, positioned through a market demand lens to unlock hidden enterprise value.
• AI Innovation Development of AI strategies tailored for innovation research and opportunity mapping, including practical AI applications such as rapid prototyping and custom model development for enterprise innovation use cases.
• Corporate Venture Capital Design and implementation of corporate venture capital initiatives, including investment thesis definition, governance establishment, deal flow support, and integration with broader enterprise innovation capabilities.

Named customers11 records

Segments3 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed Yes

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

AI capability5 records

Feature4 records

Partnerships

Two partnerships are on record, tiered core/flagship.

• CLYR (Joint Venture)core/flagshipStrategic or Co-development Partner · 23 May 2024CLYR is a joint venture between Unlimit Ventures and ID8 Innovation, representing their first concrete venture from the venture studio partnership. CLYR is developing a revolutionary air quality monitoring system using AI and advanced imaging technologies to identify microscopic airborne particles for homeowners. ID8 contributed entrepreneurial discovery and venture creation expertise.
• Unlimit Venturescore/flagshipStrategic or Co-development Partner · 15 May 2024Venture studio partnership between ID8 Innovation and Unlimit Ventures focused on building next-generation companies that employ hardware, software, and artificial intelligence to solve customer pain points. ID8 brings expertise in early-stage entrepreneurial discovery, product development, and innovation strategy. Unlimit Ventures contributes expertise in engineering, advanced robotics, and industrial design. The partnership leverages unique strengths of both companies to drive AI-enabled hardware innovation.

Scale indicators2 records

Recent moves5 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Emerging players

• CB Insights: Market intelligence platform for corporate strategy, venture capital, and innovation teams. Comparable to ID8 in serving enterprise innovation leaders with technology-driven insights on startups, technologies, and emerging trends.
• Quid (NetBase Quid): AI-powered market intelligence and consumer insights platform using NLP and machine learning for trend analysis. Overlaps with ID8's Nexus platform in applying AI to continuous innovation research and strategic focus area monitoring.

Direct peers

• Brightidea: Enterprise innovation and idea management software platform with adjacent advisory services. Comparable in providing technology-enabled infrastructure for corporate innovation programs, similar to how Nexus supports ID8.
• Planbox: Innovation management platform combined with services for crowdsourcing, idea management, and innovation program execution. Comparable to ID8's blend of Nexus technology platform with hands-on innovation consulting.
• Innosight (Huron): Innovation strategy and venture-building consultancy founded by Clayton Christensen. Comparable to ID8 in offering end-to-end corporate innovation services from strategy through new venture incubation for large enterprises.

Broad incumbents

• KPMG - KPMG Ignition / Enterprise Innovation: Big Four consultancy with dedicated enterprise innovation services and innovation labs. Comparable in advising large enterprises on innovation strategy, transformation, and emerging technology adoption.
• Bain & Company - Bain Ventures: Global strategy consultancy with dedicated innovation and corporate venture capital practices. Competes with ID8 for CVC program design and innovation strategy engagements with Fortune 500 clients.
• Boston Consulting Group (BCG) - BCG X / GAMMA: Global management consultancy with a dedicated innovation practice (BCG X) and AI research arm (GAMMA). Competes with ID8 for Fortune 500 innovation strategy and corporate venture capital advisory budgets at significantly greater scale.
• Deloitte - Deloitte Ventures / Innovation: Big Four firm with a large innovation practice and Deloitte Ventures CVC arm. Competes with ID8 for enterprise innovation program design, AI strategy, and corporate venture capital advisory mandates.
• McKinsey & Company - QuantumBlack: Global consultancy with corporate innovation, AI, and venture-building practices via QuantumBlack and McKinsey Ventures. Overlaps with ID8's enterprise innovation advisory offering but at vastly larger scale and brand recognition.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights5 records

Customer concentration

• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/id8-innovation

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles3 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

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

M&A

Investments

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

Frequently asked questions about ID8 Innovation