Lobster

What Lobster does

Lobster is a privately-held Paris-based innovation accelerator and consultancy founded in 2017 by Lionel, a Centrale-trained former multinational marketing and innovation executive with 13 years of corporate experience. The firm operates with a deliberately small core team of five named specialists (innovation, brand design, soft-skills coaching, marketing/CSR, food incubation, quantitative studies, and global design) supplemented by an external ecosystem of design, social-science, technical/data, and training experts assembled per engagement. Its core product is a six-phase Design Thinking methodology (Cadrage, Exploration, Ideation, Prototype, Test, Développement) for inventing, developing, and deploying new brands, products, services, experiences, and processes for enterprise clients.

Underlying assets include an integrated Design Studio (industrial, graphic, UX, food, and space design), a Research Institute covering semiology, ethnology, and anthropology, a LAB for mockups and prototypes, and ten structured training modules covering agile organization, design thinking, co-creation, leadership, and intrapreneurship. Operations are anchored by a partnership with the United Kitchens food incubator at Château de Nanterre, plus academic ties to Centrale-Supélec, Paris Dauphine, Léonard de Vinci, and Food Design Lab Nantes. Named enterprise clients include Coca-Cola, Pernod Ricard, Bic, Intermarché, Monin, SNCF, Euronext, Nactalia, and Vaux le Vicomte.

The business model is professional services consulting sold via direct, quote-based, project-priced engagements with multi-year contract cadence; pricing is not publicly disclosed. Distribution is direct, regional (Europe/France), and relationship-led, with no digital self-serve channel. Marketing is limited to organic LinkedIn, Instagram, and the company website. No funding rounds, revenue figures, public listing, or parent company have been disclosed.

Name

Lobster

Legal name

Lobster

Website

https://lobster-innovation.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

2017

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

Lobster is a Paris-based innovation consultancy, founded 2017, that applies a six-phase Design Thinking methodology to help enterprise clients create and deploy new brands, products, services, and experiences across food, consumer goods, mobility, and finance.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Headquarters

HQ city

Paris

HQ country

France

HQ region

Europe

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. Innovation Consulting & Project Management: Full-service innovation consulting covering the complete project lifecycle from framing through deployment, or targeted support on specific phases. Revenue generated through professional services engagements with enterprise clients.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels1 record

Marketing channels3 records

Core offering

Lobster is an innovation accelerator that helps enterprises invent, develop, and deploy new offers (brands, products, services, experiences) using a customized six-pillar Design Thinking-based methodology. It combines user-centric macro and micro research, co-creation sessions, rapid prototyping, iterative user testing, and operational deployment support, with an internal Design Studio, Research Institute, and Prototyping LAB, plus a portfolio of ten training modules covering agile organization, design thinking, and intrapreneurship.

Product overview

Lobster is an innovation accelerator providing a unified service offering centered on Design Thinking methodology. The core portfolio consists of end-to-end innovation consulting (covering six phases: Cadrage, Exploration, Ideation, Prototype, Test, and Développement), complemented by a Design Studio (industrial, graphic, UX, food, and space design), a Research Institute (ethnography, anthropology, semiology), and a LAB for prototyping. Training modules (10 programs) serve as an add-on offering for team capability building. The company operates as a small core team with an ecosystem of external experts, providing customized multidisciplinary teams for each client project.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Innovation Consulting & Project Management

Quantifiable outcome

• Nactalia brand successfully launched at Biocoop and Greenweez retail chains
• +2 more outcomes

Named customers10 records

Segments3 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature1 record

Partnerships

Five partnerships are on record, tiered minor and core.

• Food Design Lab (Nantes)minorStrategic or Co-development PartnerEducational partnership with Food Design Lab located in Nantes for food design expertise and collaborative projects.
• DauphineminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerAcademic partnership with Paris Dauphine University for research and educational collaboration in innovation methodologies.
• Centrale – SupélecminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerEngineering school partnership providing access to technical expertise and potential talent for innovation projects.
• Léonard de VinciminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerAcademic partnership with Léonard de Vinci university for collaborative research and innovation methodology development.
• United KitchenscoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerFood incubator partner located at the Château de Nanterre. United Kitchens hosts hackathons, team building events, and collaborative innovation sessions. Lobster conducted Bel team building event and Coca-Cola hackathon at this location.

Scale indicators2 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Direct peers

• IDEO: Global design and innovation consultancy founded on Design Thinking methodology. Most direct peer to Lobster: both sell user-centric, multidisciplinary innovation engagements to enterprise clients on a project basis; IDEO is the larger, established benchmark Lobster positions against.
• frog (Capgemini Engineering): Design and innovation firm acquired by Capgemini Engineering, delivering product, brand, and experience design for global enterprises. Comparable to Lobster in applying human-centered design and rapid prototyping to enterprise innovation mandates, but with vastly larger scale and integrated tech delivery.
• Systematic Innovation: France-based innovation training and consulting firm focused on structured innovation methods for enterprise teams. Comparable to Lobster in geographic focus, size band, and offering mix of training plus consulting engagements.
• Livework: European service design and innovation consultancy with offices across multiple countries, applying Design Thinking to public and private sector transformation. Comparable to Lobster in methodology and target client base, though with broader geographic delivery.
• Board of Innovation: European boutique innovation consultancy operating in a similar size band to Lobster, with a comparable methodology-led, project-based GTM serving large enterprise clients. Strong peer because both compete for similar innovation RFPs in CPG, financial services, and mobility.
• designaffairs: European multidisciplinary design and innovation consultancy delivering product, brand, and experience design for industrial and consumer clients. Comparable to Lobster in combining a methodology-led, multi-disciplinary team model with enterprise project-based delivery.
• Why Innovation: French innovation consultancy specializing in Design Thinking and collaborative innovation workshops for large enterprises. Closest in geography, size band, and methodology to Lobster; both target French multinationals with similar agile/Design Thinking mandates.

Broad incumbents

• Wolff Olins: Global brand and innovation consultancy with a wide portfolio spanning brand strategy, design, and innovation. Comparable to Lobster on the brand-creation and innovation dimensions, but operates as a much broader incumbent with full-service global delivery.
• Accenture Song: Accenture's experience design and innovation arm (formerly Fjord), offering end-to-end customer experience and innovation transformation for the world's largest enterprises. Overlaps with Lobster on user-centric innovation but at a vastly larger scale with integrated technology delivery.
• McKinsey Design: Design and innovation practice within McKinsey & Company serving global enterprise clients with integrated strategy + design mandates. Comparable to Lobster on the innovation front-end, but bundled inside a tier-1 strategy firm offering global scale Lobster cannot match.

Market position

Strengths1 record

Weaknesses1 record

Competitive moat3 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/lobsterinnove
• Instagraminstagram.com/lobster.innovation

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles7 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 Lobster