Basadur Applied Innovation

What Basadur Applied Innovation does

Basadur Applied Innovation is a privately-held, family-operated firm headquartered in Burlington, Ontario, Canada that commercializes a research-validated innovation methodology under license from McMaster Industry Liaison Office (MILO). Founded by Dr. Min Basadur, the company builds its offering around three proprietary IP assets: the Basadur Profile (a four-style cognitive diversity assessment classifying individuals as Generators, Conceptualizers, Optimizers, or Implementers), the InQ Survey (a team-level innovation measurement instrument), and Simplexity Thinking (an 8-step structured creative problem-solving framework). The methodology is backed by over 50 years of academic research with publications in peer-reviewed journals and is used by Fortune 500 enterprises such as eBay, BASF, RBC, Pfizer, PepsiCo, General Mills, W.L. Gore, John Deere, Invisalign, and State Street, alongside government agencies including the Inter-American Development Bank and Elections Ontario, healthcare systems, and academic institutions.

The company operates a multi-stream revenue model. Assessment tools are sold via individual licenses (US$60 corporate / US$30 academic per profile) and enterprise subscriptions (300+ users per calendar year). High-touch certification programs are sold through Eventbrite at $1,495 (Level I), $1,995 (Level II), and $4,995 (Level III), with a fourth Trainer tier priced TBD. The Basadur Academy distributes nine self-paced digital courses at $20–$129 per person. Facilitated workshops and consulting are delivered by certified practitioners to enterprise clients in person or remotely via Zoom/Microsoft Teams. The Ambasadur Affiliate Program extends distribution globally by paying 30% commission to certified partners who resell at a 5% discount, and book sales (Scatterbrains on Amazon, Think Better Do Better bundled with courses) round out the portfolio.

Distribution combines direct enterprise sales consultation, self-serve e-commerce through the Basadur Profile platform, and a certified practitioner channel that delivers services across North America, Europe, the Middle East, Asia Pacific, and South America. Customer segments are explicitly organized around Leaders & Catalysts, Leadership Development cohorts, Organizations, Coaches, Consultants, and Educators/Academic Institutions. With 1–10 core employees, the company relies heavily on its global practitioner network to scale training, facilitation, and consulting revenue beyond what its internal headcount could deliver directly.

Name

Basadur Applied Innovation

Legal name

Basadur Applied Creativity

Website

https://basadur.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

1999

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

Basadur Applied Innovation is a Burlington, Ontario-based firm that commercializes a research-validated innovation methodology — the Basadur Profile, InQ Survey, and Simplexity Thinking 8-step process — to enterprises, leaders, coaches, consultants, and educators via certification programs, digital courses, facilitated workshops, and a global certified practitioner affiliate network.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Innovation Training & Consulting Services

NAICS

Management, Scientific, and Technical Consulting Services (5416), Software Publishers (51321), Scientific Research and Development Services (5417)

SIC

Services-Educational Services (8200), Services-Management Consulting Services (8742)

akta.pro primary industry

Innovation & Design Thinking Programs (EDAMAHAD)

akta.pro secondary industry

Sales & Customer Service Training (EDAGANAC)

Keywords

• Creative problem solving
• Innovation training
• Team assessment
• Design thinking
• Cognitive diversity

Headquarters

HQ city

Burlington

HQ country

Canada

HQ region

North America

Offices2 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

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

Revenue model

1. Assessment Tool Licenses (Basadur Profile & InQ Survey): The Basadur Profile and InQ Survey are sold through individual licenses, pay-as-you-go accounts, and enterprise subscriptions. Individual profiles start at US$60 for corporate users and US$30 for academic/non-profit. Enterprise accounts (300+ users per calendar year) offer unlimited profiles within the subscription period. Revenue is generated through per-seat licensing with volume discounts tracked on the platform.
2. Training & Certification Programs: Multi-level certification programs (Basadur Profile Certification, Simplexity Level I–IV) are sold as instructor-led workshops at fixed prices ($1,495 Level I, $1,995 Level II, $4,995 Level III, with Level IV pricing TBD). Programs combine virtual sessions with pre-session learning modules. This is a high-touch professional services revenue stream.
3. Digital Courses & E-Learning (Basadur Academy): Self-paced digital courses sold on a per-person basis through the Basadur Academy platform. Courses include The 8-Step Creative Problem Solver ($50/person), The Ten-Minute Problem Solver ($20/person), The Basadur Applied Creativity Course ($129/student including Profile), The Basadur Guide to Becoming a Better Innovator ($100/person), and others. These provide scalable, recurring revenue through unit sales.
4. Facilitated Workshops & Consulting Services: Application sessions led by certified Basadur practitioners that help organizations overcome complex team or organizational challenges using the Simplexity Thinking process. Delivered in-person or remotely via Zoom/Microsoft Teams. Revenue generated through service engagements with organizations.
5. Ambasadur Affiliate Program: Certified partners (Ambasadurs) resell Basadur products to end clients at a 5% discount. Basadur pays 30% commission on the balance of each sale. This creates a recurring affiliate referral revenue stream while expanding the distribution network.
6. Publications (Books): The company publishes books including 'Scatterbrains: Teams, Innovation, and Thinking Differently' (available on Amazon) and 'Think Better Do Better' (bundled with the 10-Minute Problem Solver). Book sales provide a modest revenue stream while also serving as marketing tools for the broader ecosystem.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion3 records

Distribution channels6 records

Marketing channels7 records

Core offering

Basadur Applied Innovation sells an applied creativity and design thinking methodology centered on the Basadur Profile assessment, the InQ Survey, and the Simplexity Thinking 8-step process. The company offers self-serve digital courses through Basadur Academy (per-person pricing $20–$129), a four-level professional certification program ($1,495–$4,995), facilitated workshops and team building debriefs delivered by certified practitioners, the Scatterbrains book, and an affiliate practitioner program. Its customers are primarily enterprise organizations, leadership development programs, coaches, consultants, and educators seeking to build repeatable innovation capability.

Product overview

Basadur Applied Innovation offers a unified innovation methodology platform centered on three core products: the Basadur Profile (cognitive diversity assessment), the InQ Survey (team innovation measurement), and Simplexity Thinking (an 8-step creative problem-solving process). The portfolio includes nine structured digital courses through Basadur Academy ranging from $20-$129 per person, a four-level certification program ($1,495-$4,995), facilitated workshops, team building debriefs, and the Scatterbrains book. Additional offerings include the Ambasadur affiliate program and proprietary innovation tools (Why/What's Stopping? Analysis, Challenge Mapping, How Might We?). The ecosystem enables individuals, teams, and organizations to build capabilities in applied creativity and design thinking through assessment, training, and facilitation services.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• Basadur Profile: A scientifically-derived instrument that accurately identifies an individual's preferred approach to problem-solving and innovation.
• Simplexity Thinking
• InQ Survey
• Basadur Academy
• Scatterbrains
• Ambasadur Affiliate Program

Products and services

• Basadur Profile A scientifically-validated assessment instrument sold to individuals and organizations that identifies an individual's preferred approach to problem-solving and innovation, categorizing them into four thinking styles: Generators, Conceptualizers, Optimizers, and Implementers. Used to build team scatter diagrams showing cognitive composition. Licensed to corporate users at US$60 and academic/non-profit users at US$30 per profile, with enterprise subscriptions available for 300+ users.
• InQ Survey (Innovation Quotient) An assessment tool that measures the quality of a team's problem-solving and innovation practices by assessing attitudes, skills, and behaviors. Results are scored across five levels from innovation novice to innovation master. Used by enterprise teams to identify how well they actually practice the skills measured by the Basadur Profile.
• Basadur Applied Creativity Course A 12-session experiential program for educators to guide students through the creative process with comprehensive instructor notes and student workbooks. Priced at $129 per student (includes the Basadur Profile). Designed for embedding into academic curricula from undergraduate to executive MBA programs.
• Simplexity Certification Program (Levels I–IV) A four-level professional certification program: Level I Certified Basadur Innovation Practitioner ($1,495), Level II Certified Simplexity Facilitator ($1,995), Level III Certified Simplexity Integrator ($4,995), and Level IV Certified Simplexity Trainer (price TBD). Graduates are certified to use, facilitate, integrate, and train others in the Basadur system. Multi-year contract cadence.
• Facilitated Workshops Application sessions led by certified Basadur practitioners that guide organizations through the Basadur system to overcome complex team or organizational challenges. Delivered in-person or remotely via Zoom/Microsoft Teams. Sold directly to enterprise clients as professional services engagements.
• Team Building Debriefs Facilitated sessions following team Profile completion that improve collaborative and innovative culture through interactive exercises and discussions enabling teams to understand cognitive diversity. Sold to enterprise clients.
• Cognitive Diversity Measurement Service A service using the Basadur Profile to measure, evaluate, and structure innovative teams by identifying the cognitive diversity within organizations and its correlation with team creativity and performance. Sold to enterprise clients.
• Scatterbrains Book A 60-page practical guide on understanding innovation and thinking styles of people in teams, featuring case studies using real team scatter diagrams to demonstrate how to leverage cognitive diversity for team success. Sold through Amazon and the Basadur website.
• Ambasadur Affiliate Program A certification-based affiliate partner program offering special academic rates on all Basadur products, with promotional codes providing 5% client discounts and 30% affiliate commissions to certified partners. Available globally to certified Simplexity or innovation assessment tool practitioners.
• Basadur Innovation Academy A digital learning platform offering self-paced eLearning programs including Simplexity Thinking, Divergent/Convergent Thinking, Challenge Mapping, and Ideation modules. Course catalog includes nine standalone digital courses sold at per-person prices ranging from $20 to $129.
• Simplexity Thinking (8-Step Process) A structured eight-step framework for creative problem-solving and innovation integrating all four Profile thinking styles, guiding teams from problem discovery through implementation. Licensed intellectual property used under agreement with McMaster Industry Liaison Office (MILO). Delivered as a branded methodology through training, certification, and facilitated engagements.

Quantifiable outcome

• Teams with a diverse mix of styles significantly out-perform teams with a more uniform composition
• +3 more outcomes

Named customers20 records

Segments5 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature5 records

Partnerships

One partnership is on record.

• McMaster Industry Liaison Office (MILO)coreOEM/ Whitelabel/ Licensing PartnerMcMaster Industry Liaison Office (MILO) holds the licensing rights for Basadur's intellectual property including the Basadur Profile®, Simplexity Thinking®, and the Basadur Applied Innovation® brand. Basadur operates under license from MILO, making this the foundational IP licensing relationship underpinning the entire business.

Scale indicators4 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Direct peers

• Creative Education Foundation: CEF is the steward of the Creative Problem Solving (CPS) methodology, closely related to Basadur's academic roots. It offers training, certification, and an annual conference targeting educators, coaches, and consultants — overlapping closely with Basadur's practitioner and educator segments.
• LUMA Institute: LUMA Institute offers a systematic, research-backed innovation and human-centered design methodology with certified practitioner training and workshops. Like Basadur, it sells proprietary methods, training programs, and a practitioner certification ecosystem rather than pure consulting hours.
• Systematic Inventive Thinking (SIT): SIT offers a proprietary, structured innovation methodology with certification, workshops, and tools — directly comparable to Basadur's Simplexity Thinking. Both monetize a research-based creativity framework via practitioner training and consulting.
• Strategyzer: Strategyzer commercializes the Business Model Canvas and Value Proposition Designer frameworks, with practitioner training, certification, and a global affiliate-type community. Comparable in combining proprietary innovation IP with certification, courses, and a practitioner ecosystem.

Emerging players

• Mind Tools: Mind Tools is a subscription-based business skills and leadership training platform covering problem-solving, creativity, and team development. Competes with Basadur Academy for individual learner and corporate L&D budgets on digital learning distribution.
• Killer Innovations (Phil McKinney): Killer Innovations provides innovation training, keynotes, and workshops led by former Cisco CTO Phil McKinney. Competes in the same executive education and innovation training space as Basadur but as a personal-brand-driven offering rather than a research-validated methodology.

Broad incumbents

• IDEO: IDEO is the archetypal design thinking and innovation consultancy, serving Fortune 500 clients with deep methodology and facilitation services. Operates as a far larger, broader incumbent in the same enterprise innovation-training and facilitation space as Basadur.
• Doblin (Deloitte): Doblin is Deloitte's innovation consulting practice, offering enterprise innovation strategy, frameworks, and capability-building at very large scale. Overlaps with Basadur's enterprise facilitation and leadership development segments but as part of a multi-hundred-thousand-employee professional services firm.
• frog Design (Capgemini Engineering): frog is a global design and innovation consultancy operating as part of Capgemini Engineering. Sells design thinking and innovation services at enterprise scale, overlapping with Basadur's facilitated workshops and enterprise training offerings.

Others

• Stanford d.school (Hasso Plattner Institute of Design): Stanford d.school is the leading academic design-thinking institution, offering executive education, workshops, and an open-source methodology. While not a direct commercial competitor, it shapes buyer expectations and trains professionals who may compete with or feed Basadur's practitioner community.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/basadur-applied-creativity

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles9 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 Basadur Applied Innovation