Venture co-creation
Build the venture together. Share the work and the reward.
Where the value sits in a venture that does not yet exist, Future Lab co-creates it. We shape the proposition, build the operating model, stand up the entity, and remain accountable through to commercial traction. Sankofa Lab provides the engineering team where the venture is technology-based.
Where the value sits in a venture that does not yet exist, Future Lab co-creates it: shaping the proposition, building the operating model, standing up the entity, and remaining accountable through to commercial traction. We share the work and the reward through a transparent commercial model. Engineering capability is brought in through Sankofa Lab where the build is technology-based.
What Venture Co-Creation is
Building the venture as partners with shared accountability.
An engagement structured around a single venture: a new business, a new platform, or a standalone entity that does not yet exist. We sit inside the build alongside your team. Our incentive is the same as yours: the venture's commercial traction.
When it fits
The opportunity warrants a separate venture, not a project inside the existing entity. The build needs people who have stood up businesses before. You want a partner accountable to commercial outcomes, not deliverables, with the option to share equity rather than pay only fees.
- One venture, one accountable team. Two organisations co-delivering.
- The proposition, the operating model, and the entity get built together.
- Sankofa Lab's product and platform engineering capability comes alongside where the venture is technology-based.
- Risk and reward are shared; the structure is transparent before we begin.
- We hand over to an operating team that can run it without our daily presence.
Anatomy of the build
Four stages, one accountable team.
A Venture Co-Creation engagement passes through four stages. Each stage is a deliberate decision point: proceed, pause, or pivot.
01
Shape
Validate the opportunity, sharpen the proposition, define what the venture must look like at maturity. Decision: invest in build or not.
02
Build
Stand up the operating model, the technology (with Sankofa Lab), the team, and the legal entity. Get to first paying customers.
03
Prove
Run the venture. Validate unit economics. Iterate on proposition, channel, and operations until traction is reproducible.
04
Hand over
Operating team runs the venture without our daily presence. Future Lab transitions to governance or exits, depending on structure.
Commercial structure
Risk and reward, structured transparently.
The commercial model is agreed before the build begins, and varies by engagement. Three structures are typical. The right shape depends on the venture, the contribution each side makes, and the appetite for shared exposure.
Common structures
In all structures, the working session establishes whether and how to proceed before any commercial commitment is made.
Who does what
Three organisations, one venture.
A typical Venture Co-Creation engagement involves three operating partners: the client, Future Lab, and Sankofa Lab. Each has a defined role; together they build one accountable team.
Client
Sponsor & strategic owner
Provides the strategic mandate, the operating context, and access to the assets the venture builds upon. Carries decision rights on direction and scope.
Future Lab
Venture lead
Shapes the proposition, runs the build, stands up the entity, and remains accountable through to traction. Brings the venture-building methodology and senior operating team.
Sankofa Lab
Product and platform engineering
Where the venture is technology-based, Sankofa Lab's product and platform engineering capability co-delivers against shared standards alongside the venture team. One capability area within the broader Sankofa Lab platform.
What success looks like
A venture in market, an operating team in place.
Three observable conditions at the end of the build, before the partnership transitions to governance or exit.
01
A standalone venture in market
Live with paying customers. Proof of demand. Operating with a unit economics model that the team can defend.
02
An operating team
Capable of running the venture without our daily presence. Hired, trained, and operating against the rhythms we built together.
03
A clean ownership structure
Reflecting what each partner contributed. Documented before the build began; honoured when it ends.
Where this shows up
Situations the work has fit.
These are illustrative situations where Venture Co-Creation has fit the shape of the problem. The structure of the engagement is the same; the situation it lands in varies. They are not a closed list, and they are not case studies.
Mobile network operator
An embedded-finance venture, distinct from the mobile money line.
Where the operator has scale, agent distribution, and behavioural data, but the mobile money business is a different commercial model than the embedded-finance opportunity sitting on top of it. The new business needs its own balance sheet, governance and operating cadence to move at venture speed.
Industrial conglomerate
A logistics venture from underused warehouse and fleet assets.
Where the parent's logistics infrastructure runs at fractional utilisation and the obvious next move, opening it to third parties, is not a project the parent's operating teams can run alongside their day jobs. Stood up as a separate entity with its own commercial mandate.
Tier-1 bank
A platform business co-built alongside the legacy bank.
Where the structural shift in banking economics calls for a model the legacy entity cannot host without disrupting itself. The next-model business is built alongside, on shared assets but separate operating discipline, with the technology stack delivered by the Studio.
If the situation calls for a different mode, the working session is still the starting point. Innovation Partnership → · Capability Transfer → · Product & Platform Studio →
Ready to start?
The working session is where we find out whether Venture Co-Creation is the right fit.
We listen before we recommend. The session helps both sides decide whether and how to proceed.
Start a working session →