Welcome To Crowd Innovation
Introduction
We are a proudly African start-up, offering crowdsourcing services for innovation and strategy with a focus on Africa. This guide explains what crowdsourcing is, how crowdsourcing platforms work, and why crowdsourcing for businesses is a powerful tool to drive innovation. First, an introduction:
Origin Statement
Our journey commenced with research conducted through the Gordon Institute of Business Science (GIBS) by our founder, ED Deane. GIBS is ranked within the top 50 business schools globally and is a leading business school on the African continent. GIBS standards are exceptionally high, and our clients have the assurance of these high standards in the work we produce.
The results of the research were surprising. We identified an opportunity to introduce a crowdsourcing service focusing on strategy and innovation as a result.
Mission
The current mission is to launch Crowd Innovation as a viable innovation method for accessing local and international innovators to solve local challenges; and to offer crowdsourcing as a strategic execution resource.
We believe that crowdsourcing offers the means to “leapfrog” innovation and strategy in developed countries and allow Africa to grow on her own terms.
The timing is promising as analysists predict that the next 10 years “belong to Africa” when comparing economic growth accross the globe. Our African heritage, location and experience positions us well to offer services by Africans for Africans.
Vision
Africa will remain our fucus for the foreseeable future. Once entrenched, we believe our experience positions us well to growth into other emerging markets.
Crowdsourcing research, while growing rapidly in fields as diverse as information technology, medicine and business, remains fragmented. This is characteristic of a new field of research. We hope to contribute to this growing area of research, and provide an African perspective.
WHAT IS CROWDsourcing ?
The most commonly asked question we receive is “What is it?” Simply put, crowdsourcing represents the power of crowds. Consider a whole crowd of people working to resolve your challenges for the price of one. Crowdsourcing platforms provide the tools to work with crowds effectively.
For those familiar with innovation, Crowdsourcing is a form of “Open Innovation”. Rather than trying to reinvent the wheel internally, possibly with limited skills and experience, business crowdsourcing in Africa offers an effective way to find best-of-breed solutions externally, or to get a crowd to work on your challenges for you.
The Roles In A crowdsourcing Project
Seeker
The organisation seeking to resolve a challenge needs:
- A clear view of the challenge
- To commit funds to resolving the challenge.
- Accepting that innovation, including crowdsourcing, is risky.
- A sponsor prepared to get support for the project and remove obstacles.
Platform
Crowd Innovation offers:
- Refinement of the challenge specifications
- Curates the crowd
- Manages the process of finding the solution.
- If contracted to do so, manage the implementation of the solution.
Crowd
The crowd:
- Must ask questions for sake of clarity and solution generation
- Proposes solutions to the challenge
- The winning solution is entitled receive the funds made available for winning the challenge.
The crowdsourcing models are deceptively simple. The reality of challenges is complex. For a clear view of this, we recommend a case study that we share during our free online training sessions, you can book online on our website. During our online training session you will also have the opportunity to complete a link telling us of a challenge you would like to discuss. You will also have the opportunity to take a survey and book a 30 minute consultation
Return ON INVESTMENT (ROI)
Consistently, the top organisations using a crowdsourcing method did so because it yielded better returns on investment than other innovation methods. Specifically, they mentioned the following benefits of crowdsourcing:
- Resolving a challenge was faster using this method.
- The costs of achieving the goal were lower with crowdsourcing.
- It produces results more quickly than other innovation methods.
- Crowdsourcing was considered less risky than traditional innovation methods.
The actual value derived from solving the crowdsourcing challenge depends on the business value to be created by solving the challenge.
Interestingly, the organisation that had been crowdsourcing the longest did not see failed challenges as “failure”. They viewed them as benchmarking exercises that confirmed that their internal innovations were leading-edge and that there was nothing more advanced in the market. This was considered valuable, even though the desired solution had not been found.
Additionally, the scan provided by crowdsourcing activities was considered useful for existing managers, who are often so busy with organisational responsibilities that they are unable to keep up with developments in their field.
Dynamic Capabilities
Working with an external crowdsourcing partner enhances a company’s dynamic capabilities. For crowdsourcing startups in Africa, this offers agility and the ability to engage or disengage from projects easily without “hard-wiring” expensive internal skills. We do the work for you. You are only obliged to complete projects which have been contracted.
Strategic Applications
The applications of crowdsourcing are diverse and constantly evolving. Some of the strategic applications relevant to corporates include:
- Innovation
- Strategic alliances
- Change management
- Audience engagement
- Product development
- Global databases of biological material for R& D purposes
- Alternate resourcing strategy
It’s worth exploring possibilities, as one research participant with 10 years of crowdsourcing experience said: “Anything can be crowdsourced, and any stage of a process can be crowdsourced.”
CrowdSourcing Success Rate
Success rates of crowdsourcing projects vary dramatically. They range from complete failure to far exceeding project expectations. Not surprisingly, knowledge of crowdsourcing, how to manage the project, and navigate the complexities does make a difference.
Our averages across the study show a success rate of experienced-to-inexperienced of roughly 60:40, whereas the most experienced company conducting crowdsourcing reported a success rate of close to 67%.
NEXT STEPS
An infographic slide summarising this discussion is available to download by clicking on the button below.
To engage with us, please follow the process below:
❶ Apply to attend our free, live, online training on our website
❷ Complete the link provided during the online session and book an appointment. This link includes a free readiness survey.
❸ Schedule and attend the free 30- minute consultation, and expect a proposal thereafter.
We look forward to mutually fruitful discussions.
© E D Deane, 2026
You may copy and distribute this work under the following conditions:
1.Credit must be given to the creator and logos may not be removed.
2. No derivatives or adaptations of the work are permitted.
3. Any other requests must be made in writing to hello@crowd-innovation.com