What Spring2 Innovation does

Spring2 Innovation Inc. is a privately held Canadian consulting and training firm headquartered in Ottawa, Ontario, founded in 2011 and operating with a five-person team led by Founder & CEO Nilufer Erdebil. The company delivers Design Thinking-based services to both public sector organizations (federal, provincial and municipal) and private businesses ranging from roughly 30 to over 100,000 employees, anchored on its proprietary 'Deeper Clarity Method™' — a documented five-step framework that combines design thinking, team alignment and mindset work.

The firm monetizes through three primary channels: (i) fee-per-seat training courses ranging from $220 for a two-hour mindset workshop to $2,300 for the six-session Employee Experience program, with the flagship Design Thinking Level 1 priced at $1,650 per person; (ii) consulting engagements using the Deeper Clarity Method™ for design thinking, innovation/transformation, and business strategy work, accessed via a free 30-minute consultation; and (iii) ancillary revenue from a self-paced subscription course on FreshLearn ($400 / 90 days, available in English and French) and book sales of Erdebil's 'Future Proofing by Design' via Amazon, Barnes & Noble and Kobo. The 2026 catalog adds AI-themed offerings including the AI Clarity Assessment tool, an 'AI in Action' workshop, and the hire of an AI Developer, marking a pivot toward AI-advisory services.

The client base is heavily weighted toward Canadian public sector buyers — Canadian Armed Forces Morale and Welfare Services, Health Canada, Shared Services Canada, City of Ottawa, and the National Research Council of Canada are documented case studies — with limited named private-sector logos (Aurora Liquefied Natural Gas). Distribution mixes direct enterprise field sales for consulting with event-driven enrollment for open courses and self-service delivery for the online catalog, and the firm maintains PIPEDA privacy compliance. No revenue, funding, M&A or partnership disclosures are present.

Name

Spring2 Innovation

Legal name

Spring2 Innovation Inc.

Website

https://spring2innovation.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

2011

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

Spring2 Innovation is an Ottawa-based boutique consultancy that delivers Design Thinking training, consulting, and proprietary tools — including the Deeper Clarity Method™ and the AI Clarity Assessment — to Canadian public sector agencies and mid-market-to-large private businesses.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Management Consulting — Design Thinking and Innovation Training

NAICS

Professional and Management Development Training (61143)

SIC

Services-Management Consulting Services (8742)

akta.pro primary industry

Creativity & Innovation Mindset (EDABAMAH)

akta.pro secondary industry

Innovation & Design Thinking Programs (EDAMAHAD)

Keywords

• Design thinking training
• Innovation consulting
• Organizational transformation
• Customer experience strategy
• Leadership development workshops

Headquarters

HQ city

Ottawa

HQ country

Canada

HQ region

North America

Offices2 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

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

Revenue model

1. Consulting Services: Consulting engagements using the Deeper Clarity Method, including design thinking consulting, innovation and transformation consulting, and business strategy consulting. Work with businesses of 30 to over 100,000 people.
2. Open Enrollment Training: Scheduled courses available for individuals and teams including Design Thinking Level 1, Certificate programs, Advanced workshops, and specialized courses. Delivered in-person and virtually.
3. Self-Paced Online Training: Self-led courses available through FreshLearn platform with 90-day access periods. Includes Introduction to Design Thinking in English and French.
4. Custom Training: Tailored training programs for teams and organizations working on specific challenges or goals. Training topics include Design Thinking & Change Management, Digital Literacy through IoT, and Design Thinking for Leaders.
5. Book Sales: Sale of 'Future Proofing by Design' book published by CEO Nilufer Erdebil. Available in paperback and digital formats through Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Kobo, and other retailers.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion2 records

Distribution channels6 records

Marketing channels8 records

Core offering

Spring2 Innovation provides human-centered design thinking training courses and consulting services for organizations in both the public and private sectors. Its core is the proprietary Deeper Clarity Method™ which combines design thinking methodology with team alignment and mindset work to help clients tackle organizational alignment, customer experience, innovation, and transformation challenges. Offerings span from introductory self-paced courses to advanced certificate programs, specialized workshops, custom training, and consulting engagements.

Product overview

Spring2 Innovation offers a comprehensive portfolio of Design Thinking-based training courses, consulting services, and proprietary methodologies. The core offering centers on the Deeper Clarity Method, a proprietary approach combining design thinking, team alignment, and mindset work. The training portfolio includes structured courses from introductory to advanced levels: Introduction to Design Thinking (Self-paced), Design Thinking Level 1, Design Thinking Certificate (20-hour program), Advanced Design Thinking, Design Thinking for Leaders, and specialized workshops including Leading with Customer Focus, Introduction to Journey Mapping, Mindsets in Action (basic and advanced), Enhancing Employee Experience through Design Thinking, Getting Aligned, Digital-Physical Transformation, Psychological Safety, and AI in Action. Consulting services encompass Design Thinking Consulting, Innovation & Transformation Consulting, and Business Strategy Consulting. Additional products include the AI Clarity Assessment tool (at spring2-ai-clarity.lovable.app), Deeper Clarity Mindsets cards, Solutions Finder tool, and audit services (Alignment, Customer Centricity, Customer). The company also publishes the book 'Future Proofing by Design' by Nilufer Erdebil. Custom training options are available for teams with specific challenges.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• Deeper Clarity Method: Proprietary methodology combining design thinking, team alignment and mindset developed by Spring2 Innovation for project success.
• Future Proofing by Design

Products and services

• Design Thinking Certificate A flagship certificate program delivering 20 hours of instructor-led Design Thinking training over 5 days across 5-6 weeks, designed to drive real business results. For professionals and teams seeking a comprehensive practical foundation in human-centred design.
• Design Thinking Level 1 Two-day online entry-level course ($1,650 per person) providing a practical, human-centred framework and common language for teams to co-create smarter solutions. For leaders, teams, and individuals beginning their design thinking journey.
• Introduction to Design Thinking (Self-paced) Self-paced online course ($400 for 90-day access) available in English and French via the FreshLearn platform. For independent learners wanting foundational design thinking skills for resilience, effectiveness, and efficiency in problem-solving.
• Advanced Design Thinking: Aligning for Impact One-day advanced workshop for graduates of Level 1 or the Certificate program, deepening expertise in team alignment, strategic foresight, and innovation to drive measurable business outcomes.
• Design Thinking for Leaders Strategic Design Thinking course designed for public and private sector leaders to guide teams through change, build resilience, and foster co-creation with end-users.
• Leading with Customer Focus 3-hour workshop ($750 per person) for leaders to drive business growth, align cross-functional teams around customer needs, break down silos, and create a shared vision for customer success.
• Introduction to Journey Mapping Introductory workshop ($550 per person) providing hands-on experience developing personas, mapping touchpoints and emotions, and uncovering pain points that shape customer satisfaction and loyalty.
• Mindsets in Action Workshops Two-tier workshop series (Introductory 2-hour workshop $220 per person; Advanced Full-Day) that helps participants gain clarity, build better habits, develop mindset agility, reframe challenges, and align teams for measurable outcomes.
• Enhancing Employee Experience through Design Thinking Multi-week course ($2,300 per person, six 1.5-hour sessions over three weeks) applying Design Thinking principles to craft user-centred experiences that boost employee engagement, satisfaction, and retention.
• Getting Aligned: Setting Projects Up for Success Half-day interactive workshop providing practical tools to ensure stakeholders, objectives, and execution are aligned from project start, reducing risk and improving project outcomes.
• Digital-Physical Transformation Expert-led workshop on Digital-Physical transformation covering AI, IoT, AIoT, and their role in reshaping the world. Uses Design Thinking to create solutions at the intersection of humans, cyberspace, and the physical environment, with a particular focus on public sector challenges.
• Psychological Safety: Essential Leadership Practices for Thriving Teams Virtual workshop ($375 per person) based on the book by Minette Norman and Karolin Helbig, helping leaders build psychological safety through practical tools that encourage openness, trust, and better team dynamics.
• AI in Action: Human-Centred Implementation and Agentic Strategy 3-hour intensive online workshop ($735.50 per person) providing a practical framework to integrate AI into daily workflows using design thinking principles, covering agentic AI configuration for real-world business challenges.
• Custom Training Customized training sessions focused on helping teams create greater impact from a human-centred perspective, tailored to specific organizational challenges. Topics include Design Thinking & Change Management, Digital Literacy through IoT, and Design Thinking for Leaders.
• Design Thinking and Innovation Consulting (Deeper Clarity Method™) Consulting engagements (Design Thinking Consulting, Innovation & Transformation Consulting, Business Strategy Consulting) using the proprietary Deeper Clarity Method™ to help organizations tackle alignment challenges, embed innovation, perform customer research, run co-creation sessions, iterate prototypes, and execute customer segmentation, journey mapping, visioning, and go-to-market strategy. For organizations of 30 to 100,000+ people in both public and private sectors.
• Deeper Clarity Audit Services Three fast one-hour audit engagements (Alignment Audit, Customer Centricity Audit, Customer Audit) designed to identify organizational gaps and customer-focused opportunities.
• AI Clarity Assessment An AI-powered online assessment tool with three components — AI Readiness evaluation, AI Opportunity Discovery, and AI Misalignment Risk Assessment — hosted at spring2-ai-clarity.lovable.app. For organizations evaluating AI implementation preparedness.
• Future Proofing by Design (Book) Book by Nilufer Erdebil on creating better services and teams in the public sector through design thinking. Available in paperback and digital formats through Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Kobo, and other retailers.

Quantifiable outcome

• 229% median ROI per project for mature design thinking projects
• +5 more outcomes

Named customers6 records

Segments4 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

AI capability4 records

Feature5 records

Scale indicators3 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights6 records

Direct peers

• ExperiencePoint: Canadian-based design thinking training company that delivers experiential workshops and simulations for enterprise teams—directly comparable to Spring2's open-enrollment and custom training portfolio.
• IDEO: Global pioneer in human-centered design and design thinking consulting/training (including IDEO U), offering comparable methodologies and corporate training to enterprise and public sector clients.
• LUMA Institute: Specialized design thinking training firm offering certification programs and workshops for innovation practitioners—closely aligned with Spring2's Level 1/Certificate/Advanced course progression.
• Nielsen Norman Group: UX and design research training firm offering courses, certifications, and workshops—comparable in monetizing practitioner-level design and research training for working professionals.
• Live in the Grey: Canadian design thinking and innovation training firm that works with enterprises to embed human-centered design—directly comparable geography, methodology, and customer base.

Broad incumbents

• Deloitte Digital (incl. Doblin): Big Four consultancy with a digital and innovation arm (Doblin was a pioneer of design thinking in business) offering overlapping capabilities as part of a broader portfolio.
• Frog Design (Capgemini Engineering): Global design and innovation consultancy (now part of Capgemini Engineering) offering design thinking consulting and training to multinational enterprises—a much larger scaled competitor.
• McKinsey & Company (Design Practice): Global management consulting giant with a dedicated design practice serving large enterprises on innovation and customer experience—overlapping buyer (executives) but vastly larger scale.
• IBM Design Thinking Services: IBM's enterprise design thinking program offers training and consulting for large organizations—competing for the same enterprise training budgets as Spring2 but at a far larger scale.

Others

• Design Council: UK-based non-profit design promotion body that publishes frameworks and runs training programs—adjacent rather than direct, but operates in the same design thinking authority and methodology space.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• YouTubeyoutube.com/channel/PLFdRkVmfsPKKNEVXtqTB0MilDfbMuShOa
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/spring2innovation
• Xx.com/Spring2Inno

Compliance1 record

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles5 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 Spring2 Innovation