UPLAND

What UPLAND does

UPLAND (legal entity Great Lakes GrowthWorks, LLC) is a Michigan-based, privately held management consulting firm founded in 2015 that delivers foresight-led growth strategy, innovation strategy, and brand strategy engagements. The firm serves enterprise clients (McDonald's, PepsiCo, Kellogg's, Haribo, Carhartt, 4Moms, Theo Chocolate, Nielsen-Massey Vanillas, Roush) as well as nonprofits, advocacy groups, and foundations across 25+ industry categories including packaged food & beverage, QSR/restaurant, pet, health & wellness, beauty, retail, mobility, and fashion/apparel. Its core technical IP is the proprietary DisruptorID™ methodology (which studies market drivers and weak signals, draws on a Foresight Hub of experts, tracks VC/PE activity, and uses AI scanning), supplemented by The Hunger Index™ consumer intelligence platform, Future Maps synthesis deliverables, and qualitative/quantitative consumer insight capabilities including AI Conversational Qual. UPLAND makes money through project-based and retainer professional services engagements priced per quote with enterprise and nonprofit buyers; go-to-market is sales-led via direct outreach, a referral network, and a content/earned-media engine anchored on its Insights blog, LinkedIn presence, and proprietary research publications.

Name

UPLAND

Legal name

Great Lakes GrowthWorks, LLC

Website

https://go-upland.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

2015

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

UPLAND is a Michigan-based, privately held consulting firm (founded 2015) that delivers foresight-led growth, innovation, and brand strategy services to Fortune 100 enterprises, emerging brands, and nonprofits using its proprietary DisruptorID™ methodology and The Hunger Index™ consumer intelligence platform.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Headquarters

HQ city

Ann Arbor

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

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

Revenue model

1. Strategic Consulting Services: Professional consulting services for growth strategy, innovation strategy, and brand strategy. Engagements appear to be project-based or retainer arrangements with enterprise clients.

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels2 records

Marketing channels6 records

Core offering

UPLAND is a foresight-led consulting firm that delivers three core service pillars — Growth Strategy, Innovation Strategy, and Brand Strategy — to help enterprise clients anticipate disruption and build future-ready strategies. The firm executes engagements through a phased methodology (Phase 1: Envision The Future via Foresight/Insight/Synthesis; Phase 2: Create Your Future via Ideation/Creation/Validation) supported by proprietary offerings including DisruptorID™, The Hunger Index™, and Future Maps.

Product overview

UPLAND is a Foresight, Innovation, and Growth Strategy consulting firm (founded in 2015) that operates as a professional services firm rather than a software product company. Their offering is structured as a three-pillar consulting framework supported by proprietary methodologies: Growth Strategy, Innovation Strategy, and Brand Strategy services. Key proprietary offerings include DisruptorID™ (their signature foresight methodology for identifying market disruption), The Hunger Index™ (consumer intelligence research platform), and Future Maps (synthesis deliverables integrating foresight and insights). Services are delivered through phased engagements: Phase 1 (Envision The Future) includes Foresight, Insight, and Synthesis; Phase 2 (Create Your Future) includes Ideation, Creation, and Validation. The company also provides consumer insights capabilities using qualitative and quantitative research methods.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Growth Strategy Defining bold yet actionable growth strategies including strategic visioning, multi-year plans, commercialization, expansion paths, partnership opportunities, and market/competitive intelligence for enterprise clients.
• Innovation Strategy Creating products, services, and experiences that win the next cycle through demand space exploration, ideation, new product development, innovation roadmaps, validation, and commercialization for enterprise clients.
• Brand Strategy Building and maintaining brand relevance through positioning, value proposition development, brand identity, packaging design, marketing strategy, and go-to-market/retail strategy for enterprise clients.
• DisruptorID™ UPLAND's proprietary foresight offering that studies market drivers and weak signals, taps into Foresight Hub experts, tracks VC/PE investment activity, and uses AI scanning to identify disruption likely to impact clients.
• Future Maps Deliverables created by integrating Foresight and Insight learning, providing rich opportunity spaces that leverage disruption and chart paths for growth for enterprise clients.
• The Hunger Index™ UPLAND's proprietary consumer intelligence platform used for large-scale consumer research, including studies on how GLP-1 medications are rewiring Americans' behavioral relationship with food.
• Consumer Insights Deep suite of qualitative and quantitative consumer/customer insights capabilities including traditional methods and newer approaches like AI conversational qual, influencer-led discussions, and hot-spot diaries targeting hard-to-reach segments such as Gen Z.
• Strategic Planning Comprehensive strategic planning services delivered through a structured engagement process resulting in disruption-led 3+ year strategic plans for enterprise clients.
• Innovation Strategy + Roadmap Innovation strategy and roadmap development including market segmentation, growth strategy, innovation pipeline, and sequenced product development for enterprise clients.
• Future Landscape Mapping Foresight-driven mapping of future demand spaces and scenarios for long-term growth strategy and disruption-led initiatives across industries.
• Brand Strategy & Positioning Foundational brand and product portfolio strategy work to define the most promising path to strategic, sustainable future growth for enterprise clients.

Quantifiable outcome

• 80%+ of innovation concepts exceed benchmarks during quantitative validation
• +2 more outcomes

Named customers12 records

Segments16 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature4 records

Scale indicators4 records

Recent moves5 records

Expansion highlights4 records

Broad incumbents

• Bain & Company: Top-tier strategy consultancy serving large consumer goods and retail clients globally. Overlaps with UPLAND in growth strategy, innovation, and brand work but at vastly greater scale and geographic reach.
• McKinsey & Company: Global management consulting leader with deep growth strategy and consumer practice. Competes for the same Fortune 100 strategy engagements (e.g., McDonald's, Kellogg's) at much larger scale.
• Doblin (Deloitte): Innovation strategy consultancy now part of Deloitte. Direct overlap with UPLAND's innovation and foresight offerings but with substantially larger scale and global reach.

Direct peers

• The Cambridge Group: Growth strategy consulting firm (now part of NielsenIQ) focused on consumer demand and category growth. Highly comparable to UPLAND's Growth Strategy work with Fortune 100 CPG clients.
• Fahrenheit 212: Innovation strategy and product development consultancy serving Fortune 500 clients. Comparable to UPLAND's Innovation Strategy pillar and proprietary methodology-driven delivery.
• Siegel+Gale: Brand strategy and customer experience consultancy serving enterprise clients. Comparable to UPLAND's Brand Strategy pillar with similar mid-size positioning.
• Lippincott: Brand strategy and design consultancy serving large enterprises. Comparable to UPLAND's Brand Strategy pillar with similar Fortune 500 client profile and positioning focus.
• Prophet: Growth and transformation consultancy combining brand, innovation, and digital strategy. Closely comparable to UPLAND in service mix, Fortune 100 client base, and mid-size firm positioning.
• Redscout: Brand strategy and innovation agency working with consumer goods and Fortune 500 clients. Comparable in scale, methodology, and client overlap with UPLAND.
• The Hartman Group: Consumer insights and food/beverage foresight research firm. Highly comparable to UPLAND's Hunger Index™ consumer intelligence capability and food/CPG focus.

Market position

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/go-upland
• Xx.com/go_upland
• Facebookfacebook.com/UPLANDInnovation

Compliance2 records

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles1 record

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 UPLAND