Rainmaking
Rainmaking is a London-headquartered, privately held global corporate innovation and venture development firm founded in 2007 that partners with 85+ Fortune 500 companies to co-build ventures, run startup pilots, and deliver accelerator programs. It operates through sub-brands including Startupbootcamp and ASPIRE, generating revenue via professional services and equity co-investment.
- Company typePrivate
- Founded2007
- HeadquartersLondon, United Kingdom
- Headcount251–500
- GTM typeB2B
- OfferingServices
What Rainmaking does
Rainmaking Innovation Limited is a privately held global corporate innovation and venture development firm incorporated in England and Wales (company number 08433320) and headquartered in London, with additional offices in New York, Copenhagen, Madrid, Mexico City, Dubai, Cairo, Doha, Sydney, Osaka, Singapore, Taipei, and Kaohsiung. Founded in 2007 in Copenhagen, the company partners with Fortune 500 and other large enterprises to co-create new business models, build internal ventures, run startup pilot programs, and deliver industry-specific accelerators. Named clients include IKEA, Visa, Barclays, Coca-Cola HBC, ENGIE, Gamuda, FLSmidth, Ramboll, Tryg, HSBC, Airbus, and Mitsubishi, with the company reporting engagement with 85+ Fortune 500 partners, 1,389+ ventures built/invested/accelerated, and an 81% successful pilot rate.
The firm operates through a family of interconnected brands including Startupbootcamp (one of the world's largest accelerators with 80+ cohorts and 950+ startups accelerated since 2006), ASPIRE (a virtual accelerator for departing employees launched in 2020), Finnovista, Founder Factor, Slideworks, Sugarcoat, and Autoholly. Revenue is generated primarily through custom B2B professional services engagements with corporate clients, supplemented by equity co-investment alongside corporate partners as founding shareholders of new ventures (a licensing/equity model) and sponsorship of accelerator cohorts. The company runs industry programs in FinTech, InsurTech, Transport & Logistics, Smart City, Net Zero/Sustainability, and Digital Health, and uses an in-house digital hub to centralize client engagement.
In July 2023, Rainmaking divested its APAC business (Rainmaking APAC, founded 2017, ~50 employees across Singapore, Japan, and South Korea) to Bain & Company, with the unit operating as a branded service line within Bain's Innovation & Design ecosystem. Rainmaking retains ownership and operations across Europe, South America, USA, and MENA, with the company's stated value proposition centered on combining corporate scale with entrepreneurial execution through shared risk/reward venture structures.
Rainmaking firmographics
Firmographics- Name
- Rainmaking
- Legal name
- Rainmaking Innovation Limited
- Website
- https://rainmaking.io
- Company type
- Private
- Founded year
- 2007
- Operating status
- Operating
- Headcount range
- 251–500 employees
- Short description
- Rainmaking is a London-headquartered, privately held global corporate innovation and venture development firm founded in 2007 that partners with 85+ Fortune 500 companies to co-build ventures, run startup pilots, and deliver accelerator programs. It operates through sub-brands including Startupbootcamp and ASPIRE, generating revenue via professional services and equity co-investment.
- Ownership category
- akta.pro rank
Rainmaking industry classification
Industry- Product category
- Corporate Innovation & Venture Building Services
- akta.pro primary industry
- Corporate Accelerators & Startup Programs (FSANAHAD)
- akta.pro secondary industry
- Accelerators & Incubators (Investor-Operated) (FSANAAAM)
Keywords
Where Rainmaking is headquartered
LocationHeadquarters
- HQ city
- London
- HQ country
- United Kingdom
- HQ region
- Europe
Offices13 records
Markets served
Rainmaking business model
Business model- GTM type
- B2B
- Offering type
- Services
- Cost components
- Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Technology or R&D, Others
Revenue model
- Corporate Innovation & Venture Development: Rainmaking provides corporate innovation and venture development services to Fortune 500 companies. They co-create new business models, develop ventures, and facilitate corporate-startup engagement, sharing risks and rewards with partners.
- Venture Studio & Equity Ownership: Rainmaking builds new startup companies leveraging corporate advantages and co-founders. They take equity alongside corporate partners as founding shareholders in new companies, generating returns through equity value creation.
Go-to-market motion2 records
Distribution channels4 records
Marketing channels5 records
Rainmaking product offering
Product offeringCore offering
Rainmaking partners with large corporations, governments, and industry bodies to co-create new ventures, design and run innovation programs, and broker startup-corporate collaborations. The firm runs accelerators, scouting engagements, venture-building sprints, and internal innovation programs on a multi-year, embedded basis. Revenue is generated through consulting and program fees as well as value-sharing from co-built ventures.
Product overview
Rainmaking is a global corporate innovation and venture development firm that operates as a platform of interconnected services. The core offering includes Corporate Venture Building, Startup Pilots, Accelerators, Opportunity Mapping, and Internal Innovation. Key programs include Startupbootcamp (one of the world's largest accelerator networks) and ASPIRE (virtual startup accelerator for departing employees). Rainmaking also delivers industry-specific programs in FinTech, InsurTech, Transport, Smart City, and Net Zero. The company partners with major corporations (Barclays, Visa, Coca-Cola HBC, IKEA, ENGIE) on custom challenge programs, venture studios, and acceleration initiatives. ASPIRE offers three program tiers: Digital Ideation & Customer Discovery (6 weeks), Digital Full Programme (20 weeks), and Live Full Programme (20 weeks with live workshops).
Differentiator
Problem solved
Functional benefit
Brands
- Startupbootcamp: One of the world's largest industry-focused accelerator programs, acquired by Rainmaking
- Founder Factor
- Finnovista
- Slideworks
- Sugarcoat
- Autoholly
- ASPIRE
Products and services
- Corporate Venture Building Multi-year, embedded engagements where Rainmaking co-designs, builds, and sometimes co-invests in new ventures alongside large corporate clients, taking ideas from concept through to commercial launch and scaling.
- Startup Engagement & Scouting Programs Structured programs that help corporates discover, validate, and partner with relevant startups through curated deal flow, pilots, and proof-of-concept engagements, leveraging Rainmaking's global startup network.
- Corporate & Industry Accelerators End-to-end design and operation of accelerator programs on behalf of corporates, governments, and industry bodies, including cohort selection, mentoring, demo days, and post-program follow-through.
- Innovation Strategy & Advisory Strategic advisory engagements covering innovation vision, operating model design, ecosystem strategy, and internal capability building for executive teams and boards.
- Rainmaking Digital Hub Proprietary digital platform that supports engagement management, startup-corporate matchmaking, deal-flow tracking, and program reporting across Rainmaking's client engagements.
- Rainmaking Loft (Co-working & Event Spaces) Operated co-working and event spaces that host startups, corporate clients, and ecosystem events, serving as a physical hub for Rainmaking's programs and a venue for client engagements.
Quantifiable outcome
- More than $5B USD in equity value created
- +4 more outcomes
Companies that use Rainmaking
Customer profileNamed customers10 records
Segments3 records
Ideal customer profiles2 records
Rainmaking technology and API
TechnologyTechnology focussed No
API detail
- Has API
- No
- API docs
- API detail
Core technology
AI maturity
App detail
Feature1 record
Rainmaking partnerships and signals
Strategic signalPartnerships
Six partnerships are on record, tiered core and flagship.
- Coca-Cola HBCcorePartnership to launch €100K Coca-Cola HBC HORECA Challenge seeking startups revolutionizing Hotel, Restaurant and Cafe industry. Follows success of €100K Sustainability Challenge focused on sustainable packaging. Challenge areas include internet-first restaurants, restaurant tech hardware, food waste management, feedback management, and food discovery platforms.
- BarclaysflagshipStrategic partnership where Rainmaking was chosen as Barclays' innovation partner. Launched Rise Start-Up Academy (virtual digital skills-building accelerator for FinTech founders) and FinTech Venture Studio for co-developing new FinTech ventures. Barclays' Group Innovation team works with startups at the forefront of innovation to bring new products and services to market. Programme participants join largest single-bank alumni of seed-stage FinTechs boasting market cap of $7.8 billion.
- WexplorecoreExclusive marketing and sales partnership to rollout ASPIRE in Italy. Wexplore, a renowned Italian HRTech company with founders including leading Italian outplacement experts, launches ASPIRE into Italian market. ASPIRE program available to Italian companies making redundancies and direct to would-be entrepreneurs.
- Dubai International Financial Centre (DIFC) FinTech HivecoreExclusive partnership in UAE to rollout ASPIRE virtual accelerator. DIFC FinTech Hive is a leading global financial centre in MEASA region (72 countries, ~3 billion population, US$7.7 trillion nominal GDP). Ambition to rollout to minimum 5,000 participants in 12 months building ecosystem of new businesses.
- Career Money LifecoreLaunching ASPIRE virtual accelerator in Australia with Career Money Life, an award-winning career transition platform. Rainmaking joined Career Money Life's marketplace as Business Service Provider. ASPIRE program available to employees departing businesses with credit to spend on Career Money Life.
- VisacoreVisa partnered across multiple Startupbootcamp accelerator programs in Mexico City and Dubai, and runs Visa's Everywhere Initiative LAC globally with Rainmaking and Finnovista. 800+ FinTech startups engaged through Visa Everywhere Initiative LAC, with 12 growth-stage startups in 2019 participating in immersion program designing pilots with Visa.
Scale indicators15 records
Recent moves7 records
Expansion highlights6 records
Rainmaking competitors and assessment
Company assessmentEmerging players
- Techstars: Techstars is one of the largest global accelerator networks with industry-specific verticals and corporate partnerships. As Startupbootcamp's closest global accelerator peer, Techstars competes for the same cohort founders and corporate sponsor budgets.
- Y Combinator: Y Combinator is the world's largest startup accelerator and increasingly runs industry-specific programs with corporate partners. It is a partial competitor, particularly for early-stage deal flow feeding Rainmaking's startup-pilot engagements.
Direct peers
- Innosight (Huron): Innosight, founded by Clayton Christensen and now part of Huron, is a strategy and innovation consultancy that helps companies build new growth businesses. It competes directly with Rainmaking on opportunity mapping and corporate venture building engagements.
- Mach49: Mach49 is a Silicon Valley-headquartered venture builder that partners with large enterprises to create billion-dollar businesses in new growth markets. It is one of the most direct peers to Rainmaking's Corporate Venture Building service line.
- Startupbootcamp (internal scale comparison): Startupbootcamp is operated by Rainmaking itself — included for context as one of the world's largest industry-focused accelerators (80+ cohorts, 950+ startups accelerated). It benchmarks against global accelerator peers such as Techstars and Y Combinator.
- BCG X (BCG Digital Ventures): BCG X (formerly BCG Digital Ventures) is the corporate venture-building and innovation arm of Boston Consulting Group, building and scaling new businesses with Fortune 500 clients across industries. It is the closest direct competitor to Rainmaking's core Corporate Venture Building and Startup Pilots offerings.
Broad incumbents
- McKinsey & Company: McKinsey is a global management consultancy with growing capabilities in corporate innovation, growth, and venture building through McKinsey Growth and QuantumBlack. It is a broader incumbent that overlaps with Rainmaking's enterprise innovation engagements and competes for Fortune 500 consulting budgets.
- Bain & Company: Bain & Company is a top-tier global management consultancy that acquired Rainmaking's APAC business in 2023 and now operates its own Innovation & Design practice. Bain is both a competitor in innovation consulting and a former acquirer/internaliser of Rainmaking's regional capability.
- Strategy& (PwC): Strategy& is PwC's global strategy consulting business and increasingly bundles corporate innovation, digital ventures, and growth strategy offerings for large enterprises. It competes with Rainmaking in the strategy consulting slice of enterprise engagements.
Others
- Plug and Play Tech Center: Plug and Play is a global startup platform and corporate innovation ecosystem connecting Fortune 500s with high-growth startups across verticals. It is an adjacent/ecosystem peer rather than a direct venture-builder, competing in the corporate-startup matchmaking space.
Market position
Strengths5 records
Weaknesses5 records
Competitive moat5 records
Key risks6 records
Key highlights7 records
Customer concentration
Rainmaking social profiles
Digital presenceRainmaking compliance and trust
Trust signalCompliance2 records
Rainmaking financial estimates
Financial estimateRevenue estimate
Valuation estimate
Rainmaking leadership team
Management profileNumber of profiles
Profiles7 records
Rainmaking subsidiaries and ownership
Company hierarchySubsidiaries1 record
Rainmaking funding detail
Funding detailFunding overview
Funding rounds
Investors
Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Rainmaking M&A and investment
M&A and investmentM&A
Investments9 records
M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Frequently asked questions about Rainmaking
What does Rainmaking do?
Rainmaking partners with large corporations, governments, and industry bodies to co-create new ventures, design and run innovation programs, and broker startup-corporate collaborations. The firm runs accelerators, scouting engagements, venture-building sprints, and internal innovation programs on a multi-year, embedded basis. Revenue is generated through consulting and program fees as well as value-sharing from co-built ventures.
Is Rainmaking a public or private company?
Rainmaking is a private company. It is classified as founder individual operated bootstrapped and is currently operating.
When was Rainmaking founded?
Rainmaking was founded in 2007. It employs 251 to 500 people.
Where is Rainmaking based?
Rainmaking is headquartered in London, United Kingdom, in the Europe region.
How does Rainmaking make money?
Two revenue lines are on record. Corporate Innovation & Venture Development is the primary driver. The others are venture Studio & Equity Ownership.
Who are Rainmaking's main competitors?
Emerging players on record are Techstars and Y Combinator. Direct peers are Innosight (Huron), Mach49, Startupbootcamp (internal scale comparison) and BCG X (BCG Digital Ventures). Broad incumbents are McKinsey & Company, Bain & Company and Strategy& (PwC). Plug and Play Tech Center is listed as an others.
Does Rainmaking have an API?
No public API is recorded for Rainmaking.
What industry is Rainmaking in?
Rainmaking's product category is Corporate Innovation & Venture Building Services. Its primary akta.pro industry code is FSANAHAD, Corporate Accelerators & Startup Programs, with a secondary code of FSANAAAM, Accelerators & Incubators (Investor-Operated).