In this article, we look at the best tips for discovering trends and opportunities within specific industries. We will show how you can use our AI-driven platform to filter through hundreds of thousands of innovative startups and scale-ups.
And we will take you through how to leverage the collective brainpower of our in-house analysts to research and compile a comprehensive report on trends, insights, and opportunities around technologies or industries that you specify. To start with, let's take a look at your choices when searching for industry trends and opportunities.
AI and our Researchers
Before we get into some tips that will let you get the most out of the platform, let’s start with a little fundamental info on the backbone of our platform, that is, our researchers and the AI. For us, it’s important that you know where your data is coming from and that you can trust that what you’re getting is reliable. That process begins and ends with our research team and the AI.
AI
To start the discovery process, all you have to do is write a short description of your area of interest. After explaining your particular needs, the platform dives through our database of over 500,000 companies, using natural language processing (NLP) to identify the ones that best match your criteria. If a company catches your eye, you can request a human researcher to further enrich the profile with validated information. Suppose you are more interested in a specific technology or sub-industry.
In that case, the Valuer platform can help you get an overview of a wide range of topics, presenting the interactions between various industries, technologies, and the companies active in them. Suppose you want to continuously track the progress of a particularly interesting topic.
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In that case, the radar tracking feature lets you set up specific parameters within the various segments, sectors, technologies, companies, or competition. To ensure that the insights provided on the platform are always relevant, the Valuer algorithm constantly enriches our vast database, taking into account the most relevant technology trends and customer search queries.
Researchers
The algorithm provides vast amounts of new company data daily, but not all of it is immediately usable. Before you get a company profile, the text undergoes enrichment by our team of human researchers. The researchers go over every aspect of the company, fact-checking the information and making corrections when needed.
This gives the profiles a qualitative character, ensuring that they include only factual, up-to-date, relevant data. Notably, the process aims to paint an accurate picture of the company in question without any marketing hype or outdated company realities.
Based on your specific demands, the researchers help you uncover deeper insights about a particular company, technology, or sub-industry. If you can't find what you are looking for on the platform, don't worry, our team of researchers can cover any topic you want.
Bespoke industry reports, enriched company profiles in a custom format, CEOs with cool podcasts, whatever you need. Our team of researchers will adapt the content to suit your needs. Now that you have a better idea about how our algorithms and research team function, we can now get into some tips on how to get the most out of the platform. Let’s start this off with the search.
Starting with the search
The search by description option allows you to clearly define the parameters of your area of interest. The description can be long and explain in detail the specific technologies or applications that interest you, or it can be short bullet points that simply point out the main areas of interest.
Our NLP-powered algorithm will make sure to pick up on the most important aspects of your search and provide you with a list of the most relevant results. A few things to note: make sure to include enough information, or the algorithm might not consider all your requirements. On the other hand, start writing a novel, and the main requirements might get lost in the noise giving you a generic result with a bit of everything.
For the best results, your search can look like this: "Identify acquisition opportunities working with collaborative robotics solutions for warehouse and assembly lines to improve production output and reduce risks of injuries."
Search by look-alike company
You have the perfect example of what you need, and you just want to find other companies similar to it? Then, the search by look-alike option is exactly what you need. Simply enter the company's name, and the algorithm will detect other companies that fit its description. Even if you don't know the exact name of the company, you can describe the product or service you're looking for and select the company from the drop-down list. Then, just run the search, and our NLP algorithm will discover companies that provide products or services similar to the reference company.
Don't have any ideas but want to see how the tool works? Visit Valuer.ai and use our demo tool to find matches to one of our preselected companies.
Technology deep dive
The Technologies tool allows you to take a deeper look into trending technologies and their most relevant uses. The Valuer platform currently offers a curated list of over 30 deep dives into cutting-edge technologies, providing a detailed description of the technology, its applications, benefits, state of maturity, market developments, and of course, its impact on sustainability.
The tool also allows you to create a list of companies that use the technology as part of their product portfolio, as well as a list of industries and sub-industries where the technology has found uses. Combined, these features allow you to filter the results by an area of interest. For example, if you're looking for blockchain solutions that apply to sustainability, select blockchain technology overview and filter for sustainability.
Again, if the technology you want to take a look at isn't on the list, you can simply order a bespoke research report. Our team of researchers will scour the corners of the internet to create a technology profile most relevant to your unique business needs. The lead time for the analysis is a maximum of 7 days after the order has been placed, including weekends. To order a bespoke technology analysis, contact the sales team with your request.
The sales team will consult the technology researchers to make sure that the request is deliverable and, if it is, a short description of the technology will be added to the platform. This enables the client to spend credits to order the technology deep dive, following which the research team will begin work. The analysis will be delivered within a maximum of seven days.
If you are just visiting the platform and have an idea for a technology you think might be interesting for us to have available, you can give us a suggestion. If enough users share your view, we will promptly add it to our curated list. New short descriptions are added daily, and with each addition, the web of interconnections between industries, companies, and technologies gains new and more detailed insights.
Enriching a company profile– the process
The first step in the enrichment process begins with the technology research team. Once a company has been selected, our team of researchers makes sure that it fits all of the clients' criteria to the highest possible standard and checks for any potential problems that might arise.
If it all checks out, the team continues researching the company on a deeper level and sets the first guidelines for the researchers. Here, the technology researchers clearly define the most relevant aspects of the product for the clients' needs and point out what information should be prioritized.
Once the directions have been laid out, the researchers take over and start digging deeper into the company, checking all available sources to find and summarize the relevant information. The researchers use various sources during this stage, including websites, social media, publications, and direct contact with the companies in question.
Using this information, the researchers write the first version of the text, which goes back to the technology researchers to check the product and technology information. This step is crucial to ensure that all technical specifications and product features have been explained correctly.
When the technology researchers give the text a thumbs up, the innovation researchers take over and ensure that all of the information in the company overview, executive team, business model, value proposition, market developments, and achievements have been adequately explained.
Once the validity of the data is ensured, the innovation researchers change their focus from fact-checking to grammar and ensure that the text's clarity and readability are perfect. The writing style and vocabulary choice are standardized to internally set benchmarks, providing a concise and easily understandable analysis.
From here, the edited profile is sent to the company in question, who can provide additional information that might not have been included previously or change any information that might be old or irrelevant. This step also ensures the validity of the presented information.
With the received feedback from the contacted company, the text goes back to editing one final time to ensure that any potential changes align with our writing style. Once everything is aligned, the text gets the final approval from the lead innovation researcher and is released on the platform, after which the client is notified of the delivery.
How long it takes
From receiving the order to the final delivery of the product, the process lasts for a maximum of seven days, including weekends. In this case, the delivery time will be extended according to the scope of the analysis due to it requiring custom design and additional editing.
Bespoke Reports: The Process
In case you need narrowly defined research that doesn't quite match any of the platform's features, you can contact our sales team and inquire about a bespoke report. Using the platform's tools, our team of researchers will make sure to accommodate your requests, delivering a customized report promptly.
The layout of the report and its contents are fully customizable, as is the number of companies and technologies included. Defining the focus is up to the client. Still, popular subjects include potential acquisitions within a target market, a brief overview of companies offering a specific product or service in a custom format, analysis of competitors' corporate responsibility strategy, simply put — anything your heart might desire.
Due to the flexible structure of the report, the steps used to produce it might vary, but usually, it matches the course of the standard reports. The process starts with you defining the challenge and focus of the analysis. Once we have this information, our team of researchers uses the Valuer platform to start identifying relevant companies or technologies that fit your needs. In case the number of potential targets is higher than the final number of desired company profiles, you and your team can vote on which should be prioritized.
Once the selection has been finalized, it goes back to the researchers for further enrichment in the agreed-upon format. Again, due to the flexibility of the contents and scope, the enrichment process might take various forms. In any case, the process always includes the essential steps:
- Technology researchers setting the guidelines for key product information
- The researchers continue their research into the topic based on the established guidelines
- The draft version is checked by the technology researchers
- The innovation researchers validate all the non-technical data and edit the vocabulary and grammar following the Valuer standard.
- Before the company profile is finalized, it is sent to the company in question to verify the validity of the information. If it gets the seal of approval, the profile is sent to the design team, and the production process is complete.
How long it takes
The production time for a bespoke report depends on the scope and complexity of the analysis, as does the delivery method. The standard time for a bespoke report is around one month.
The takeaway
The key takeaway here is that when it comes to using our platform, the most important feature is the one that is going to generate the most reliable data for your specific needs. So here, the features we listed are some of the tools and services we provide that are going to generate the most in-depth and actionable data.
The platform was designed to make business solutions easier to spot, no matter what background you’re coming from. Whether you are a member of an innovation team or working in investment, our services aim to lend you a helping hand in what you’re searching for.
