What holon does

Holon (legal name holon sccl, doing business as ho|on) is a non-profit cooperative innovation agency founded in 2014 and headquartered in Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain. The firm operates with a small team of approximately ten members — four founding partners with specialized portfolios in product design, services and policy, and futures design, plus six additional team members — and delivers transdisciplinary design consulting through four interconnected practice areas: product design (materials research, product strategy, right-tech and circular innovation), service design (user research, service strategy, UX design, creative facilitation), policy design (portfolio design, intervention design, network coordination), and futures design (critical design, experiential futures, research and teaching). The agency's methodology explicitly integrates ethnographic research, participatory design, experiential futures, and a proprietary Servitisation framework for service business model development, alongside a Control Wars methodology for futures imagination and conflict mediation.

The firm's commercial model is project-based professional services: bespoke consulting engagements scoped per client, priced and delivered as discrete projects rather than as recurring subscriptions. Holon acquires work through direct relationships, referrals within the Catalan cooperative and social-innovation ecosystem, and competitive tenders for public-sector mandates. Its client roster spans international and municipal government (UN Environment Programme, Generalitat de Catalunya, City of Barcelona, Public Health Agency of Barcelona), sustainability-focused enterprises (Culligan, algrano, Parkhelp), social-economy networks (Som Comunitats, Xarxa d'Economia Solidària de Catalunya), and cultural or research institutions (Fundación Telefónica, Research & Degrowth). Because holon is a cooperative, it is governed by its members rather than external investors, and reinvestment rather than profit distribution is the operating principle.

Documented outcomes include oversight of the UN Environment eco-innovation program whose materials reached 143+ countries, design of the Som Comunitats platform that supported 1,000+ energy communities in its first year, the La Pionera pilot market for the City of Barcelona that attracted over 150,000 visitors, a 35% average annual growth contribution to the cooperative housing niche in Catalonia, and the 'Las Erres' degrowth futures installation at Fundación Telefónica that drew approximately 150,000 visitors. The firm maintains a multilingual web presence (Catalan, Spanish, English) and organic social channels on LinkedIn, Instagram, and X. There are no disclosed funding rounds, no patents or trademarks on record, no AI/ML capabilities, and no reported financial figures.

Name

holon

Legal name

holon sccl

Website

https://holon.cat

Company type

Private

Founded year

2014

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

Holon is a Barcelona-based non-profit cooperative innovation agency founded in 2014, helping governments, social enterprises, and cooperatives transform complexity into opportunities through transdisciplinary product, service, policy, and futures design consulting.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Headquarters

HQ city

Barcelona, Catalonia

HQ country

Spain

HQ region

Europe

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. Innovation Consulting Services: Project-based consulting engagements for organizations seeking to transform complexity into opportunities through design-driven innovation. Services span product, service, policy, and futures design.

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels1 record

Marketing channels5 records

Core offering

Holon is a cooperative innovation agency that provides transdisciplinary design consulting services to help organizations transform complexity into opportunities. Its offerings span four practice areas: Product Design (materials research, product strategy, right-tech innovation, circular innovation), Service Design (user research, service strategy, UX design, creative facilitation), Policy Design (policy portfolio design, intervention implementation, network coordination), and Futures Design (critical design, futures workshops, research and teaching). Services are delivered as custom-scoped projects to governments, sustainability-focused enterprises, social economy organizations, and cultural institutions.

Product overview

holon is a cooperative innovation agency offering professional design consulting services, not a software product company. Their service portfolio comprises four interconnected practice areas: Product Design (including materials research, product strategy, right-tech innovation, and circular innovation), Service Design (user research, service strategy, UX design, and creative facilitation), Policy Design (portfolio design, intervention implementation, and network coordination), and Futures Design (critical design, futures design workshops, and research/lectures). These services are delivered to organizations seeking to transform complexity into opportunities through sustainable and circular innovation.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• Control Wars: A methodology and workshop format fostering collective imagination and mediating conflicts among present futures. Used internationally at venues including The Influencers Barcelona, Tentacular Madrid, Mobile Week Barcelona, STRP Eindhoven, PRIMER New York, and World Future Studies Global Congress.
• Las Erres

Products and services

• Product Design Services Design consultancy including materials research, product strategy, right-tech innovation, and circular innovation to create products with positive social impact and environmental improvement. Offered to organizations seeking to launch or transform sustainable product lines.
• Service Design Services User research, service strategy, UX design, and creative facilitation to shape the interactions between people, objects, digital products, symbols, environments, and infrastructure. Offered to organizations seeking to redesign service experiences and improve user outcomes.
• Policy Design Services Policy portfolio design, intervention design and implementation, and network coordination to design public instruments and infrastructures that drive transformation. Offered to public administrations and networks seeking to innovate policy and ecosystem coordination.
• Futures Design Services Critical design, futures design, and research and teaching to anticipate materially the world that is coming through explorative methodologies. Offered to organizations seeking to engage audiences with speculative scenarios, degrowth, and long-horizon transitions.

Quantifiable outcome

• UN eco-innovation materials used in 143+ countries
• +5 more outcomes

Named customers11 records

Segments4 records

Ideal customer profiles4 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature3 records

Partnerships

Three partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.

• Research & DegrowthcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerCollaboration on 'The Great Imagination' exhibition at Fundacion Telefonica, exploring degrowth futures with 'Las Erres' installation. Joint narrative development on design and post-growth.
• Fundacion TelefonicacoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerCo-development of 'The Great Imagination: Stories of the Future' exhibition featuring ho|on's 'Las Erres' installation exploring degrowth scenario.
• Various Cultural Venues (The Influencers, Tentacular, Mobile Week, STRP, PRIMER)minorStrategic or Co-development PartnerHost venues for Control Wars methodology workshops exploring futures imagination. Includes The Influencers Barcelona, Tentacular Madrid, Mobile Week Barcelona, Mobile Social Congress Barcelona, STRP Eindhoven, PRIMER New York, Design Activism Workshop Series Sydney, World Future Studies Global Congress Mexico City.

Scale indicators6 records

Recent moves7 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Broad incumbents

• Pentagram: Largest independent design consultancy with broad product, service, and policy design capabilities. Adjacent peer reflecting ho|on's positioning as a multi-disciplinary design partner, though operating at very different scale and commercial orientation.
• Frog Design (Capgemini Invent): Global product and service design consultancy now part of Capgemini Invent. Overlaps with ho|on's product design and circular innovation practice but operates at significantly larger scale and broader commercial scope.

Direct peers

• Fjord (Accenture Song): Service design consultancy within Accenture Song offering service strategy, UX design, and innovation transformation. Closely mirrors ho|on's service design and futures design practices for enterprise and public-sector clients.
• IDEO: Global design and innovation consultancy with deep service design, futures, and policy practices. IDEO is the most established peer to ho|on's transdisciplinary product, service, and futures design model, though at vastly greater scale and broader commercial scope.
• SustainAbility: Sustainability strategy and innovation consultancy advising corporations, governments, and multilaterals on circular economy and ESG transitions. Direct peer in ho|on's sustainability-focused enterprise practice, especially relevant given ho|on's UN Environment work.
• Designit: Global design strategy consultancy with strong service design and innovation transformation practices. Direct peer to ho|on's integrated product/service/policy design offering for enterprise and public-sector clients.
• Forum for the Future: Non-profit sustainability and futures organization working with businesses, governments, and civil society on systemic change. Strong peer to ho|on's social economy and futures design practice, with overlapping methodologies around futures literacy and system transitions.
• Livework: European service design consultancy specializing in user research, service strategy, and innovation transformation for public and private organizations. Direct peer in service design methodology applied to complex systemic problems.

Regional players

• Domestic Data Streamers: Barcelona-based research and design studio working on data narratives and social innovation. Strong regional peer given co-location and shared focus on complex socio-environmental topics relevant to ho|on's policy and futures design practice.

Emerging players

• Dark Matter Labs: Research and design organization prototyping alternative governance, economic, and futures models. Peer to ho|on's futures design, degrowth, and policy design work, with overlapping methodological interest in speculative and experimental futures.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• Xtwitter.com/weareholon
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/holon-design
• Instagraminstagram.com/weareholon

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles4 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 holon