New IoT Innovation Company, Rocket Wagon Venture Studios, Launches at IoT Evolution Expo

During the IoT Evolution Expo, Rocket Wagon Venture Studios (RWVS) announced its formation of a new holding company and described the company’s approach to innovation, funding and business development with a goal of supporting IoT entrepreneurs focused on specific industry verticals.

RWVS is the sister company to Rocket Wagon, an IoT innovation firm also based in Chicago that delivers on the game-changing promise of emerging technology. Rocket Wagon’s connected solutions are designed to create sustainable growth at the enterprise level via the Internet of Things, Machine Intelligence, Design Thinking, and Digital Services. Their specialties include rapid prototyping and piloting, advanced product engineering, digital transformation, advanced software engineering, connected business strategy & execution, machine learning, computer vision, data science, advanced hardware engineering, and connected experience design.

RWVS has established specific standards and ideation processes for the development of IoT solutions and will provide shared services across all studios (legal, accounting, technology standards, branding, sales, marketing and business development).

Each studio is vertically aligned to drive maximum leverage for entrepreneurs engaging with the studios.

“The basic studio approach is to build a team of experienced entrepreneurs who have been there and done that to help younger, less experienced entrepreneurs tap into that experience, as well as the established best practice frameworks to accelerate the time to market and increase their likelihood of success” said Don DeLoach, Co-Founder and CEO, Rocket Wagon Venture Studios.

A board has also been announced, including Phil Perkins, CEO, Rocket Wagon, along with experts in technology growth companies and business model innovation.

"Rocket Wagon is very excited to partner with Don DeLoach on the launch of RWVS,” said Perkins. “Large companies are under increasing pressure to keep up with new upstarts and emerging technologies will be the greatest enabler of disruption the world has ever seen. We believe that RWVS can be the answer by having access to world-class innovation talent merged with an entrepreneurial environment."

According to Brenna Berman, Executive Director of City Tech Collaborative and Co-Chair with DeLoach, “The launch of RWVS creates an incredible asset for entrepreneurs in Chicago and beyond focused on leveraging IoT to drive innovation and solve entrenched business challenges.  It is also yet another sign of the maturity of the IoT innovation ecosystem in Chicago.”

Also joining the Board is Ed Chandler, a long time early stage technology investor in Chicago. “As the pace of competitive technology innovation accelerates geometrically, and facing global markets immediately, startups need unfair advantages to succeed fast - engagement with experienced advisers, affordable access to world class business services, and clear-eyed judgement on the optimal strategies and tactics to get commercial traction,” said Chandler. “Rocket Wagon Venture Studios is an exciting evolution in support for IoT startups, and will help Chicago and our region extend leadership in this sector. I am thrilled to be asked to participate.”

Also supporting this initiative is Bill Seibel. As a current key advisor to Rocket Wagon as well, Bill commented  “As the pace of digital transformation continues to increase, corporations are challenged to adapt,” Seibel said. “Yet, for many, if not most corporations, such adaptations can be difficult within the four walls of the company. The venture studio model offers a mechanism to access Innovation, and in particular, the Rocket Wagon Venture Studios approach is ideally suited to link IoT Innovation on a domain specific basis.”

“The model is becoming extremely popular,” DeLoach continued. “We are just extending in a way that makes complete sense for IoT by creating vertical studios and will build each team of experienced entrepreneurs with specific domain expertise, reflecting the domain specific nature of IoT. This has the further benefit of creating opportunities for corporate innovation officers to have line-of-sight into curated IoT companies relevant to their specific businesses.”

The initial vertical studios will center around Infant and Elderly Care, Food and Beverage, Smart Cities and Regions, and Construction.

RWVS was launched at the IoT Evolution Expo, which runs through February 1, in Ft. Lauderdale, Florida.