Vrd Research Srl

What Vrd Research Srl does

VRD Research Srl is a privately held strategy-design and innovation consultancy headquartered in Bologna, Italy, founded in 2004 and operating with a deliberately compact headcount of 1-10 senior professionals under a flat matrix structure. The firm delivers four interconnected service lines: Strategic Innovation (envisioning, new business strategy, customer experience), Applied Research (human-centric research, semiotics, co-creation and validation), Product and Service Design (concept design, service system design, product design and industrialization, implementation advisory), and Collaborative Training (innovation culture and design thinking dissemination). Its proprietary "Hyper-Collaboration" methodology is the unifying process IP, integrating stakeholders from managers through end consumers as active co-creators across Vision, Research, and Design phases, and incorporating co-design workshops, concept clinics, pretotyping, and iterative testing.

The business model is bespoke professional services sold through direct, senior-led enterprise engagements. VRD engages VP-, CDO-, and Head of R&D-level decision makers at large multinational corporations across food & beverage (Nestlé/Pavesi, Barilla, Lavazza, Ferrero, PepsiCo, General Mills, Rizzati), banking (Credem), aerospace (Embraer, Bombardier), healthcare (Johnson & Johnson, Roche Pharma), tourism (Alpitour), insurance (MAPFRE), consumer products (Electrolux, Natura, Papaiz/Assa Abloy, Arcarius), and energy (Petrobras). Marquee outcomes include the Credem mobile banking app reaching 450,000+ customers with 30% annual mobile usage growth, H2OH! consolidating category leadership in Brazil, two innovation patents and an executive cabin prototype at Embraer, and an Alpitour B2B service model fully implemented in 2023.

The firm has no disclosed pricing, no external funding, no M&A activity, and no app or SaaS product; its sole commercial surface is project-based consulting. Marketing is conducted through case-study publications (VRD Papers), an Explorations thought-leadership platform, and organic social (LinkedIn, Facebook). In 2024 VRD entered a futures-research consortium with Politecnico di Milano's Osservatori Digital Innovation alongside major Italian corporates (Eni, Ericsson, Novartis, Barilla, Mediaset, UnipolSai, Lavazza, Cimbali, Bormioli Pharma, Medici Senza Frontiere, Mediclinic, Alidays, Sofdel), positioning the firm as a methodological convener for cross-sector futures thinking.

Name

Vrd Research Srl

Legal name

Vrd Research Srl

Website

https://vrdresearch.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

2004

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

VRD Research Srl is a Bologna-based boutique innovation consultancy that uses a proprietary Hyper-Collaboration methodology to deliver strategic innovation, applied human-centric research, and product/service design to multinational enterprises across food & beverage, banking, aerospace, healthcare, and consumer products.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Headquarters

HQ city

Bologna

HQ country

Italy

HQ region

Europe

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

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

Revenue model

1. Strategic and Design Innovation Consulting Services: VRD generates revenue through professional consulting engagements focused on strategic and design innovation. Projects are delivered by dedicated teams of senior professionals in close partnership with clients, spanning from strategic envisioning and research through product and service design and implementation support. Engagement structure is bespoke, with custom processes tailored to each client challenge.

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels1 record

Marketing channels6 records

Core offering

VRD Research Srl is an innovation and design consultancy offering four core service lines: Strategic Innovation, Applied Research, Product and Service Design, and Collaborative Training. The firm serves enterprise clients across consumer goods, food and beverage, healthcare, aerospace, and financial services industries, leveraging a proprietary 'Hyper-Collaboration' methodology that integrates multidisciplinary research and design expertise.

Product overview

VRD Research Srl is a flat-matrix strategy-design and innovation consultancy based in Bologna, Italy. Rather than a unified software product, the company offers four interconnected core service lines: Strategic Innovation (identifying competitive opportunities and formulating innovative solutions), Applied Research (human-centric research using semiotics and co-creation methods), Product and Service Design (making strategic solutions tangible through design), and Collaborative Training (disseminating innovation culture through design thinking). The company operates through its proprietary Hyper-Collaboration methodology, involving stakeholders at all levels in thought and action processes. VRD's project portfolio includes design and innovation engagements across diverse sectors (food & beverage, finance, aviation, healthcare, hospitality, and consumer products) such as the Ringo Pavesi biscuit redesign, Alpitour World B2B service model, Credem mobile banking, Lavazza Wellness, Papaiz padlocks strategy, Embraer IDL, PepsiCo H2OH!, Arcarius Luxguard safes, and J&J diaper rash research. The company also produces VRD Papers (video/podcast case studies) and runs exploratory research initiatives like Osservatori.net futures research and Fosco Grisendi art collaborations.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Strategic Innovation Strategic innovation consulting service for enterprise clients, addressing innovation strategy, opportunity identification, and transformation initiatives across consumer goods, healthcare, aerospace, and financial services sectors.
• Applied Research Applied research service providing evidence-based insights and findings to support client innovation and design initiatives, including market, user, and technology research for multinational enterprise customers.
• Product and Service Design Product and service design service helping enterprise clients develop and refine physical products and service experiences, from concept through design development.
• Collaborative Training Collaborative training program designed to build internal innovation and design capabilities within client organizations through hands-on, collaborative learning approaches tied to the firm's Hyper-Collaboration methodology.

Quantifiable outcome

• Ringo biscuit redesign resulted in new brand positioning ('Unique Together') and measurable market impact for the iconic Italian snack brand.
• +10 more outcomes

Named customers24 records

Segments6 records

Ideal customer profiles1 record

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature5 records

Partnerships

15 partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.

• Osservatori Digital Innovation (Politecnico di Milano)coreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2024VRD is partnering with Osservatori Digital Innovation from the School of Management at Politecnico di Milano for a Futures Thinking Observatory focused on the future of Human Wellbeing in the Era of Intelligent Technologies in 2035. VRD is one of six partner companies collaborating with the observatory team throughout 2024 to experiment with cutting-edge future scenario design approaches and devise desirable futures collaboratively.
• EniminorStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2024Eni is one of six partner companies in the Osservatori Digital Innovation Futures Thinking Observatory on Human Wellbeing in 2035, participating alongside VRD and other partners in this collaborative research initiative.
• EricssonminorStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2024Ericsson is one of six partner companies in the Osservatori Digital Innovation Futures Thinking Observatory, collaborating on future scenario design for human wellbeing in the era of intelligent technologies.
• Cimbali GroupminorStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2024Cimbali Group is one of six partner companies in the Osservatori Digital Innovation Futures Thinking Observatory, collaborating on future scenario design research.
• Lavazza GroupminorStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2024Lavazza Group is one of six partner companies in the Osservatori Digital Innovation Futures Thinking Observatory, collaborating on future scenario design for human wellbeing.
• Medici Senza Frontiere (Médecins Sans Frontières)minorStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2024Medici Senza Frontiere is one of six partner companies in the Osservatori Digital Innovation Futures Thinking Observatory, bringing a non-profit humanitarian perspective to the human wellbeing research initiative.
• MediclinicminorStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2024Mediclinic is one of six partner companies in the Osservatori Digital Innovation Futures Thinking Observatory, contributing healthcare sector expertise to the human wellbeing in 2035 research.
• Alidays Travel ExperiencesminorStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2024Alidays Travel Experiences is one of six sponsors of the Osservatori Digital Innovation Futures Thinking Observatory, supporting research on human wellbeing in the era of intelligent technologies.
• Barilla GroupminorStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2024Barilla Group is one of six sponsors of the Osservatori Digital Innovation Futures Thinking Observatory, supporting collaborative research on future human wellbeing scenarios.
• Bormioli PharmaminorStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2024Bormioli Pharma is one of six sponsors of the Osservatori Digital Innovation Futures Thinking Observatory, participating in the collaborative future scenario design research.
• MediasetminorStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2024Mediaset is one of six sponsors of the Osservatori Digital Innovation Futures Thinking Observatory, contributing to the collaborative research on human wellbeing.
• NovartisminorStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2024Novartis is one of six sponsors of the Osservatori Digital Innovation Futures Thinking Observatory, participating in the collaborative future scenario design research.
• Sofdel S.p.A.minorStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2024Sofdel S.p.A. is one of six sponsors of the Osservatori Digital Innovation Futures Thinking Observatory, supporting the collaborative research initiative on human wellbeing in 2035.
• UnipolSai Assicurazioni SpaminorStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2024UnipolSai Assicurazioni Spa is one of six sponsors of the Osservatori Digital Innovation Futures Thinking Observatory, contributing to the collaborative future scenario design research.
• Fosco GrisendicoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2024VRD engaged with Italian painter Fosco Grisendi in an artistic exploration to observe VRD's work through a different perspective and translate it visually into the artist's graphic sign. The resulting artwork physically represents the soul of VRD and its approach to innovation, rooted in Hyper-Collaboration. The project serves as both an internal reflection and external communication of VRD's philosophy.

Scale indicators7 records

Recent moves5 records

Expansion highlights4 records

Direct peers

• Method (EPAM): Global design and innovation consultancy specializing in customer experience, product design, and digital transformation. Now part of EPAM, it competes directly with VRD for enterprise innovation mandates.
• IDEO: Global design and innovation consultancy pioneering human-centered design and co-creation methodologies, serving many of the same multinational enterprise clients across consumer products, financial services, and healthcare. Directly comparable as a strategy-design innovation firm with proprietary methods.
• Pentagram: Independent design consultancy with partner-led structure serving brand strategy, product design, and communication redesign mandates. Comparable partner-led boutique model and similar enterprise client orientation.
• Livework: Service design consultancy applying human-centered methods to service innovation, customer experience, and business model design. Comparable methodological foundation and target market of enterprises seeking service-led transformation.
• Smart Design: Global design consultancy providing human-centered product, brand, and service design for enterprise clients across consumer products and healthcare. Comparable in scale and methodology orientation.
• Frog Design ( frog ): Global design and innovation consultancy focused on human-centered design, product and service design, and brand strategy for enterprise clients. Operates in the same competitive set as VRD for multinational design and innovation mandates.
• Continuum Innovation: Boutique global design and innovation consultancy delivering human-centric strategy, design research, and product/service design for enterprise clients. Closely comparable to VRD in methodology and client base.

Broad incumbents

• Designworks (BMW Group): Global design consultancy (BMW subsidiary) delivering strategic design, product innovation, and brand experience for transport, mobility, and consumer clients. Comparable in crossing strategy-design boundaries for enterprise transformation.
• McKinsey Design (McKinsey & Company): Global management consulting giant with an embedded design practice competing for the same enterprise innovation, customer experience, and digital transformation budgets as VRD. Broader portfolio and global reach but less specialized in design execution.
• BCG Design (Boston Consulting Group): Global management consulting firm with dedicated design and innovation capabilities targeting the same enterprise C-suite buyers that VRD engages with on innovation strategy and customer experience mandates.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat3 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Facebookfacebook.com/VRDresearch
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/vrdresearch

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles2 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 Vrd Research Srl