Venture clienting in practice: How LASCANA, OTTO DOCK 6 and BOTfriends are scaling AI innovation together

When established companies want to introduce new technologies, they are often faced with a challenge: how can innovative solutions be tested quickly without lengthy development projects or high investment risks? The answer is increasingly venture clienting. The latest successful example from the Otto Group shows how this model works in practice.

The fashion brand LASCANA, together with the Würzburg-based AI company BOTfriends and the venture client unit OTTO DOCK 6, has successfully transferred an AI-supported customer service chatbot from the pilot phase to productive operation. The project is a prime example of how start-ups and corporations can bring innovations to market faster through venture clienting.

Venture clienting instead of classic start-up cooperation

In contrast to corporate venture capital or classic accelerator programs, companies do not invest in start-ups with venture clienting. Instead, they become paying customers of innovative technologies and test them directly in real use cases. OTTO DOCK 6 pursues this approach within the Otto Group. The unit identifies promising start-up solutions, examines their suitability for specific challenges within the Group and supports their implementation through to scaling.

In this way, the Group aims to shorten innovation cycles and at the same time facilitate access to external technology expertise. In the case of LASCANA, the challenge was to process standard customer service inquiries more efficiently while ensuring a high-quality customer experience. OTTO DOCK 6 found the solution in AI specialist BOTfriends.

From pilot project to live operation

The project initially started as a pilot. The AI chatbot was to integrate seamlessly into LASCANA's existing system landscape and answer recurring customer queries automatically. The results were significantly better than originally expected.

According to the project partners, the solution achieved a resolution rate of 99.4 percent. This means that almost all dialogs that were started were completed without technical interruptions. At the same time, 82.5% of users rated the service with four or five stars. These are remarkable figures for a pilot project. They not only show the technical stability of the solution, but also the high level of acceptance among customers - a key success factor for AI applications in direct customer contact.

The role of OTTO DOCK 6 as an innovation accelerator

The role of OTTO DOCK 6 in the project is interesting from a start-up perspective. The venture client unit acted as a bridge between the agility of a young technology provider and the complex requirements of a large corporation. The team identified BOTfriends as a suitable technology partner, coordinated internal coordination processes and ensured that the solution could be integrated into the existing IT landscape.

OTTO DOCK 6 thus performs precisely the function that many venture client programs strive for today. Breaking down barriers to innovation within large organizations and facilitating access to external technologies. Leon Stark, Venture Client Manager at OTTO DOCK 6, sees this as a key advantage of the model. The targeted view of the start-up market makes it possible to supplement the Group's internal technology expertise in a targeted manner and drive innovation forward together.

Why BOTfriends was awarded the contract

The decisive factor for the collaboration was not only the ability to provide a classic chatbot.

BOTfriends relies on a so-called multi-agent architecture. This involves several specialized AI agents working together within a system and being controlled by defined business rules. This allows significantly more complex service processes to be automated than with conventional chatbot solutions. At the same time, companies retain control over data flows, processes and regulatory requirements.

While many generative AI solutions deliver results quickly, they often reach their limits when it comes to complex business processes. BOTfriends addresses precisely this gap and positions itself with the claim to deliver "enterprise power without enterprise overhead".

Further impact on the entire Otto Group

The successful implementation at LASCANA could now have far-reaching effects within the Otto Group. The technical architecture has already been tested and validated in a real company environment. This makes it much easier for other Group brands to access the technology. Instead of having to carry out lengthy market research and selection processes themselves, other business units can use the solution that has already been evaluated.

This is an exciting aspect for Venture Clienting. While many pilot projects end after a successful test, this opens up the prospect of group-wide scaling. For the startup, this potentially means access to several business units within one of Europe's largest retail groups.

From chatbot to digital assistant

LASCANA's development is also far from complete. The company is planning to gradually develop the chatbot into an actionable digital assistant. In future, the AI will not only provide information, but also actively recommend products, accompany orders and carry out service processes independently.

The experiences from the pilot phase form the basis for this. At the same time, the project shows how venture clienting can help companies to initially test new technologies in a controlled manner and then gradually scale them up.

Venture clienting is used on a broad scale

The case of LASCANA illustrates a trend that can increasingly be observed in large companies. Instead of developing innovation exclusively internally or promoting start-ups through investments, more and more organizations are turning to venture clienting as a strategic tool.

For start-ups, the model opens up the opportunity to acquire major paying customers early on and to further develop their solutions under real market conditions. In turn, corporations benefit from shorter innovation cycles, lower risk and faster access to specialized technologies.

The collaboration between LASCANA, BOTfriends and OTTO DOCK 6 gives an idea of how broadly and across how many areas venture clienting can be applied. I'm sure very few companies would first think of a swimwear and underwear brand when it comes to this topic. The case also shows that the possibilities of venture clienting are still underestimated in many companies. It is not uncommon for the approach to be seen as unsuitable for their own organization or too costly. However, it is worthwhile for both corporations and start-ups to think outside the box.