Students using SimVenture Validate to validate their business idea.

Validate

Help your learners develop and plan innovative ideas with the business startup ideas platform.

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Explore Validate

Validate is a startup planning platform that allows people to ideate, plan, test and share entrepreneurial and innovative ideas. The engaging and interactive platform guides individuals and teams to:

  • Ideate their business ideas by considering real-world problems and potential solutions.
  • Think through their business model by completing a comprehensive Business Model Canvas which includes an added sustainability element.
  • Validate their assumptions by leading them through a range of startup testing techniques and tools.
  • Produce an interactive and unique visual portfolio that can be easily shared on-screen via a URL link or PDF.

How Validate supports enterprise education

Explore the functionality of the startup ideas platform and understand how it benefits both learners and educators.

For Learners

Validate provides a user-friendly portal where learners, working individually or collaboratively in teams, are guided to:

  • Ideate as many ventures, startups, and entrepreneurial projects as they choose by identifying problems and capitalising on opportunities.
  • Develop a Business Model Canvas (BMC) using Validate’s intuitive and interactive template, which includes an additional block focusing on Sustainability.
  • Identify and test critical assumptions made while completing the BMC.
  • Present and share an attractive and customisable digital portfolio of their startup idea or entrepreneurial project.

For Educators & Trainers

Validate offers a way for educators, coaches, and mentors to:

  • Track learner progress and engagement with easy-to-view analytics
  • Access and view learners’ work within the Business Model Canvas and Test areas of the platform
  • Provide live written feedback direct to learners through Validate’s chat functionality
  • Boost learner engagement and enhance educational outcomes
  • Receive top-tier customer support from our experienced team at every step, from implementation to facilitation and evaluation.
Watch how it works

How Validate works

Discover more about the innovative start ideas platform.

Based on the Business Model Canvas

Validate helps people develop, map, test and share their business ideas. By working through the guided process within the platform, users build confidence in their ideas and in their own thinking.

The online platform allows individuals or teams to explore their innovative ideas in depth and explore concepts not previously considered. It is also very simple to use and highly engaging.

Validate combines Alexander Osterwalder’s Business Model Canvas with lean startup thinking, allowing users to validate their business ideas with confidence.

All work is saved to a Canvas as ‘digital cards’ which can be viewed and edited at any time. Find out more about platform features here.

Validate Business Model Canvas section
Case studies for real businesses are included throughout Validate, to help learners further develop their own ideas.

In-built tools & case studies

Validate users are supported by in-build guidance, tools and case studies at each stage within the platform.

Within the ideation, mapping, and testing stages, users are provided with 6 real-world business examples to help guide their thinking.

The case studies provided are real-life examples from a diverse range of businesses, including:

  • A social enterprise sourcing coffee through sustainable suppliers
  • A project to end homelessness
  • A robot that children build to learn about coding and engineering

By accessing these case studies, users see how other people have validated their business ideas. This practical support boosts confidence, understanding and self-directed learning. Critically, it also saves valuable time.

Individual and team activity

Validate users can either work individually or in a team. The platform’s flexibility means people can work collaboratively (and remotely) on any joint idea or project.

Each project can be updated in real time by multiple users across multiple projects. All work within the platform is automatically saved.

Students working individually on Validate
Validate allows learners to share their startup ideas. This is the customisable business portfolio that can be shared online or as a PDF.

Interactive and sharable portfolio

Validate effortlessly builds user’s portfolios in incremental steps as they progress through the platform.

People can further enhance their final startup portfolio by adding logos, images, text and supporting documentation. Portfolios are then easy to share with educators, family, friends, potential customers or investors either through a URL or PDF download. Users can also choose what information to share within the portfolio, as some information may be confidential.

Cloud based allowing easy set up and monitoring of learners

Validate is available globally 24/7 via PC, Mac, Tablet or Phone. There is no requirement for software to be installed.

Licenses are typically supplied to the purchasing organisation. The nominated administrator then provides users with a unique link to enable them to create an account and log in to Validate.

Administrators monitor and review in real time the progress of all user activity.

Receive the best support when you work with SimVenture.

Key Validate features

Explore key features of Validate and find out what sets this enterprise education tool apart from the crowd.

Startup considerations

The Validate guided journey takes users through key areas of consideration for business startup, including:
  • Idea generation
  • Customer segments
  • Channels
  • Customer relationships
  • Value proposition
  • Key partners
  • Key activities
  • Key resources
  • Cost
  • Revenue
  • Sustainability
  • Testing assumptions
Customer segments section within the Business Model Canvas in Validate.
Login to Validate to start developing your business idea.

Developing business ideas

Validate enables learners to think through their business ideas and present them with confidence. Key features for users, include:
  • Create multiple projects and ideas
  • Work individually or in teams
  • Ideate projects and business ideas
  • Follow clear guidance to develop business models and test assumptions
  • Collate, present and share work in a customisable digital portfolio
  • Seek guidance and feedback from team members, mentors or educators using the live chat feature

Dashboard for educators

The Educator Dashboard is a robust administrative tool for educators, advisors, and coaches, allowing them to:
  • Monitor learner progress and engagement.
  • Monitor individual team member contributions to work in any project – a helpful feature for when learners are working in groups.
  • View work completed by learners which includes the Business Model Canvas, testing and portfolio.
  • Provide written feedback directly to learners within the platform via the chat functionality.
  • Divide learner groups into classes to separate activity where appropriate.
  • Share a class (group of learners) with a fellow educator in your education institution or workplace.
The Educator dashboard within Validate allows teachers and trainers to monitor learner progress and engagement, view student work, and provide written feedback directly to students within the platform.
Learner using Validate on her laptop in a startup hub to develop a business idea.

Flexible delivery

Validate is accessible on any device with internet access including PCs, Macs, tablets, and mobile phones. No technical installation is required and users can log in from anywhere.
  • Use Validate on any device from anywhere with an internet connection
  • Flexible delivery options (online, in-person, or hybrid)

Support and resources

The SimVenture team provides comprehensive support and resources for Validate, including:
  • Video tutorials for learners and educators,
  • Guides and written materials
  • Implementation support and training
  • Ongoing support from a SimVenture Learning Development Manager
Receive the best support when you work with SimVenture.
Explore Validate features

Business & Employability Skills

By using Validate, users have the opportunity to develop and hone the following skills:

  • Communication (verbal and written)
  • Research
  • Decision making
  • Analysis
  • Creativity
  • Innovation
  • Problem solving
  • Financial awareness
  • Social and environmental awareness
  • Setting goals and prioritising

Learning outcomes with Validate

Who benefits from Validate?

Validate is versatile and used widely in both educational and corporate settings.

Validate for Education

Validate is widely used in education across curricular, co-curricular, and extra-curricular settings. It is most popular in higher education courses and activities that involve enterprise, creativity, and entrepreneurship. This platform also has a key role to play in supporting startup activity and knowledge transfer.

Colleagues using the online business simulation, Evolution, for professional development and corporate training.

Validate for Workplace Training

Validate is commonly used in workplace training to support collaborative working, creative thinking, innovation and the development of new ideas. By using Validate, colleagues can work individually or in teams to ideate solutions to problems or to innovate new initiatives, projects, products or services.

Dedicated support for seamless integration

Our dedicated team of education, software, and startup support professionals provides continuous support to ensure smooth implementation and use of the online business ideas platform. Access to a wealth of written and video resources, available 24/7.

Explore Validate Resources
SimVenture's experienced Learning Development Managers provide enhanced customer support to all Evolution clients.
Professor Tom Cooney from Technological University Dublin uses Validate with entrepreneurship and business students.
Find out what people say

I have been thrilled with Validate.

Students have been working throughout the module rather than waiting until the last week to finally write a business plan. I will certainly be using it again next year.”
Professor Tom Cooney
Technological University Dublin, Ireland

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