Incubation

Nurturing a new generation of ideas

We nurture new ideas, technology products, services and business models. We follow a rigorous approach to test and validate critical assumptions rapidly and economically to drive growth.

What we do

Ideation

IDEATION

We manage a rigorous process from requirements gathering to designing the mechanics of innovation and ideation challenges internally and externally.

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TECHNOLOGY INCUBATION

Drawing from various rapid product development methodologies, we design and build technologies that propel De Beers Group and the diamond industry through the digital age.

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BUSINESS MODEL INCUBATION

We apply best practice innovation processes and tools to guide and nurture the next generation of revenue-generating business models, from testing and validation through to scale.

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BUILD INNOVATION COMMUNITY

We bring together talented individuals, passionate innovators and connect them with associated innovation communities and networks.

Business Model Incubation

The incubation team plays a leading role in guiding innovation teams through ideation challenges which aim to solve specific business challenges or customer problems. We nurture ideas that have the potential to create entirely new revenue streams for De Beers Group by creating new products for existing or new markets.

We also support innovation teams to take their most promising ideas through the process of problem/solution and product/market fit validation. We ensure that critical assumptions are validated, allowing us to either build greater confidence at speed and lower cost, or to “fail” fast and early if critical assumptions prove to be invalid. Initiatives that demonstrate product/market fit are launched and supported with the appropriate go-to-market strategies as they scale through rapid revenue growth and reach full sustainable potential.

New business model initiatives currently in our portfolio range from direct to consumers retail ventures, breakthrough digital platforms like Tracr, to game-changing technology for our diamond manufacturing customers, and innovative industrial solutions for the civil engineering and construction industries.

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Technology Incubation

We incubate promising technologies that hold potential to improve or transform the consumer or customer experience, our value propositions or existing key business activities.

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Diamond Identification & Classification

We incubate a range of technologies that can identify and classify rough and polished physical diamonds and generate the digital assets we need to enhance our digital supply chain agenda, including traceability.

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Industrial Internet of Things

We connect sensors, establish secure data communication protocols and infrastructure to ensure we can generate data on device performance, process performance and the diamonds passing through our processes to drive analytics.

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AI & Machine Learning

Our image processing technology captures and measures a diamond’s characteristics by processing digital images and applying pattern recognition and deep learning algorithms based on vast amounts of data collected over time.

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Blockchain

We securely record the provenance of diamonds and their journey from source to consumer, propelling traceability into the digital age.

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Robotics & Automation

Our machines and technology provide unparalleled efficiency, flexibility and consistency. To support new systems thinking and the moving and storing of goods, robotics and automation technology reduces process waste and performs repetitive tasks in a process.

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Additive Manufacturing

We increasingly use 3D production systems to build accurate, repeatable parts faster than ever before. We also use 3D machines to produce R&D parts and ramp up production of equipment parts in the diamond industry.

Want to have a chat about a collaboration?

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