Innovation that works: What LBBW's digital financing portal says about venture clienting

Anyone who runs their own practice as a registered doctor wants one thing above all else: to be there for their patients. Good medicine requires time, attention and a team that can devote itself to people - not paperwork.

When financing is required for a practice takeover or new equipment, the process should be clear, digital and simple. Nobody wants to struggle through forms or send e-mails back and forth, where in the end there is no overview of whether everything has been submitted in full. We at LBBW have created a solution for precisely this: a digital portal that noticeably simplifies the financing application process - initially for the target group of healthcare professionals.

We implemented the technological solution together with the Swiss fintech Teylor AG. For me, this project is a good example of how innovation works best: it solves real problems and intelligently reinforces existing strengths. Even if the road to success is not always smooth.

Customer proximity becomes innovative strength

Structured financing requests are a need that many professional groups have. Nevertheless, we decided to initially develop the solution specifically for healthcare professionals. Why? Because the starting point for venture clienting was right here.

Our colleagues in BW Bank's Healthcare Professions Advisory Service have been supporting doctors, dentists and other healthcare professionals in private practice for decades. They have a precise understanding of the challenges, processes and needs of their clients. Above all, however, they were also prepared to provide the necessary expertise and resources to find, test and integrate a convincing solution.

The ideal starting point for effective innovation: the technical experts identify a problem, the innovation experts provide the appropriate tools and implement the solution.

Although this path began with the healthcare professions, the perspective was clear from the outset that the solution should not have industry-specific limitations. Scalability is part of the concept: what works for healthcare professionals should also create real added value for other target groups with similar challenges in the future. This is where venture clienting shows its strength: as a tool for driving forward practical, relevant and widely applicable innovations.

Failure creates insights

However, the road there was not as smooth as the result appears today. The digital financing portal is one of the first projects that we implemented with the venture clienting model launched last year. And we have learned a lot from it.

With the introduction of Venture Clienting, we have created a structured process within LBBW: with a clear procedure and defined interfaces to purchase market-ready solutions from innovative start-ups.

The digital financing portal was an important reality check here: how do we bring together the requirements of a large corporation and the working methods of an agile start-up in practice? How do we organize collaboration between internal teams and external partners efficiently? And which levers ultimately determine the success of a venture clienting project?

We have found answers to these questions over the course of the project - step by step. And thus constantly improved our venture clienting model.

Venture Clienting transforms an understanding of the problem into a product

The claim of our current venture clienting model is therefore: With structure to business impact. Needs are translated into concrete requirements. We systematically analyze what challenges exist at LBBW and what solutions the market offers. On this basis, we search in clearly defined steps for start-ups that are technologically convincing and open to a partnership-based collaboration.

In Teylor, we have found the right partner for the digital financing portal. They offer a modular platform, a strong development team and high speed, but also the openness to build something together with us for a very specific target group. The focus was not on the introduction of a tool, but on a co-creation process in which internal units and the startup worked together continuously. Requirements were sharpened, processes adapted and interfaces integrated.

Today, healthcare professionals can submit their financing request to us completely digitally, upload documents and view the processing status. If necessary, they can call in personal advice at any time. The solution is not only easier for customers, but also reduces the workload for our employees as it is more structured and clearer.

When collaboration becomes leverage

What we have learned from this project goes far beyond technology. It shows how innovation can work in a large organization: namely as collaboration at eye level.

The specialist department provides the depth, Venture Clienting provides the methodical and strategic setup and our partners provide the technological speed. It is this interaction that turns an idea into a solution.

And it also shows our claim: innovation does not run alongside the business - it is part of it. The digital financing portal is a perfect example of this. It is scalable, connectable and, above all, relevant. Because in the end, it's not about something being "digital". It's about whether it's better. And that's what this solution is - for our customers, for our employees and for what we stand for as LBBW.