Innovation rarely breaks because of a lack of ideas. More often, it breaks somewhere in the scaling process, bridging the gap between a breakthrough in a research lab and a commercially viable, revenue-generating product in the industrial market.

That was the central theme of Novable’s recent live webinar, From Academia to Industry: Scaling Innovation That Delivers ROI, an unscripted 30-minute session featuring Ariadnne Vargas Rivadeneira, New Application Product Manager at IBA (Ion Beam Applications).

Hosted by Novable’s Customer Success Manager Irene Violetta, the conversation dug into a critical challenge that innovation leaders face today: how to connect academic R&D with industrial customer needs, evaluate economic feasibility early, and maintain a delicate balance between dreaming big and staying grounded in financial reality.

Watch the full recording below

"We do both" The Power of a Complementary Innovation Strategy

When we think of innovation in a market leader like IBA, a global company specializing in particle accelerator solutions and world-renowned for proton cancer therapy, it is easy to expect a purely vertical approach. One would assume they should focus exclusively on making their existing machines better, faster, and more efficient to secure their market dominance.

But according to Ariadnne, the key to long-term growth is doing both: vertical and horizontal innovation in parallel.

While IBA’s dedicated product team works day-to-day with R&D on vertical lifecycle improvements (e.g., medical device sterilization and food decontamination), Ariadnne’s newly formed Innovation Team takes a horizontal path. They explore how the core technology, accelerating particles to create free electrons that induce molecular rearrangements, can be applied to completely new sectors. This horizontal approach has unlocked massive potential in:

• Polymer and material modification (enhancing material properties).
• Environmental remediation (using irradiation as a pollutant destroyer to clean industrial waste).

What this means for you:
Don’t trap your innovation program in a false choice between incremental product upgrades and blue-sky exploration. A healthy corporate structure funds vertical enhancements to protect today's revenue while dedicating a distinct team to seek horizontal applications that open tomorrow’s markets.

From 100 Ideas to 1: Structuring a Technical and Economic Funnel

If you attend academic conferences, you will find an endless supply of brilliant concepts. However, corporate innovation teams cannot pursue 100 projects at once. To solve this, IBA developed a rigorous "funneling process" to screen academic ideas and match them with real market needs.

According to Ariadnne, the screening process consists of three critical gates:

1. The Real Problem: Identifying the actual pain point. Does this idea solve a restriction coming from regulatory changes, or address a deep, unmet market pain?
2. Technical Evaluation: Confirming that the technology (in this case, irradiation) actually works for this new application, and works efficiently.
3. Economic Feasibility: This is the core of the funnel. IBA evaluates the Total Cost of Ownership (TCO) of the solution and benchmarks it directly against current alternative technologies.

Crucially, Ariadnne explains that this is not just an exercise in populating an Excel sheet with hypothetical assumptions. Once an initial TCO model is built, the team steps out of the lab. They attend niche industry events, build relationships, and do extensive market research to validate their numbers with real-world data.

What this means for you:
A technically superior solution will fail if the economics do not make sense for the customer. Build your TCO models early, but do not rely on spreadsheet assumptions. Put yourself in the shoes of your future customer, step into their industry, and gather real data to validate your business cases.

"Don't kill your dreams, just park them"

Innovation requires a delicate balance of creativity and realism. On one hand, it is easy to dream big when looking at early-stage academic ideas that promise to change the world. On the other hand, focusing too early on rigid ROI metrics can crush groundbreaking ideas before they have a chance to mature.

What happens if an idea fails the initial economic benchmark or has a low Technology Readiness Level (TRL)?

Instead of killing the project, Ariadnne’s team uses a prioritisation framework:

• Priority 1: High market urgency and high TRL, slated for immediate development, partnerships, or joint ventures.
• Priority 2 & 3: Lower TRL or applications requiring further technological maturity, these are parked, not killed.

"Don't kill all of your dreams or ideas. Just park them," Ariadnne advises. If teams do not allow space for parked ideas, they will never achieve the kind of "completely crazy innovation" that breaks and redefines a market.

What this means for you:
Avoid binary "yes/no" gates for early-stage innovation. Establish a "parking lot" for high-potential, low-readiness ideas. Re-evaluate them periodically as market conditions, regulatory environments, or technological capabilities evolve.

Measuring Impact Beyond the Spreadsheet: OKRs and KPIs for Innovation

When the audience asked which KPIs or OKRs are used to measure the value of innovation besides direct ROI, Ariadnne outlined a multi-dimensional approach to valorisation:

• Intellectual Property (IP): Generating patents and long-term licensing income is a crucial measure of innovation value.
• Process Optimisation: Creating cost reductions, simplifying workflows, or enhancing product quality for the customer.
• Market Preservation: Innovation can act as a defensive shield. For example, upcoming regulatory restrictions on packaging recyclability represent a major threat to many businesses. By showing how irradiation can enhance polymer recyclability, IBA helps customers preserve their market size and survive regulatory bans.

What this means for you:
Broaden your innovation metrics. If you only measure immediate financial returns, you will miss the defensive and strategic value of your projects. Track IP generation, process simplification, and market share protection as core indicators of innovation success.

The Throughline

Scaling innovation from academia to industry is a structured journey. Success lies in a repeatable sequence:

At Novable, bridging this gap is exactly what we do. We help corporate teams bypass the friction of early-stage scouting by matching their strategic briefs with curated lists of the most relevant, innovative startups and tech partners.

Connect with the Speaker

Want to learn more about IBA's cutting-edge applications or discuss scaling innovation? You can connect with Ariadnne Vargas Rivadeneira directly on LinkedIn or reach out via her email shared during the session. Follow Novable on LinkedIn to stay updated on our upcoming webinars!