NorthEdge Capital
Creating a community of leaders to unlock new value
The brief
NorthEdge is a leading independent private equity firm which prides itself on providing first class support to the businesses and teams it invests in. NorthEdge works hard to accelerate the growth of the companies in their portfolio by providing advice and connections. This comes in two forms; first advice, news and resources provided directly by the NorthEdge team, and second the facilitation of connections between the businesses in the portfolio, who are often facing similar challenges and opportunities.
In the past, in-person events have provided the perfect forum for sharing insight and connecting peers across businesses but in 2020 all of that was put on hold. NorthEdge came to Loomery to create an app which could achieve many of these outcomes and foster an even more supportive and valuable community for NorthEdge.
Project summary
Following rapid research and co-creation sessions with business leaders across the NorthEdge portfolio, we used low-code platform Adalo to deliver a live mobile iOS and Android app in just two weeks. This first release of ‘NorthEdge Nexus’ was tested with a small alpha group who provided invaluable feedback, shaping the product roadmap and direction. We continue to partner with NorthEdge to deliver regular updates and new features to Nexus, recently including a web and tablet-optimised version of the platform.
Project in numbers
10
Days to design and deliver a working first version on iOS and Android
3
Versions of the product; iOS, Android and web
100+
Business leaders collaborating on the Nexus platform
“The Loomery team helped us scope, build, pilot and launch an app for our portfolio in a matter of weeks. The support we have received from the whole team throughout has been excellent.”
— Lucie Mills, Head of Business Transformation at NorthEdge
Putting business leaders first
Our primary audience for the product was time-poor C-suite leaders. For the project to be a success we needed to create something of clear value and worthy of their most valuable resource; time.
We started with workshops, bringing together senior leaders from across the NorthEdge portfolio remotely. We heard about the tools they use today to gather resources and intel, how they stay in touch with NorthEdge and where they see opportunities to share with peers. We also asked them to sketch their dream NorthEdge community app, providing the Loomery team with a deluge of brilliant ideas.
Working with NorthEdge we prioritised the feature set that would have the most impact in the shortest time and assessed a number of cross-platform development tools to accelerate app delivery. We selected Adalo, a mobile-focused low code platform with a wide range of out-of-the-box functionality, a simple CMS, analytics, and extensive options for customisation.
Delivering v1 with a low-code platform
Our first delivery sprint spanned 10 days and five core features: a news feed, business profiles, leader network, notifications and user accounts. The news feed intelligently filters content based on the user’s role type.
Utilising the extensive functionality of the Adalo platform, the Loomery team designed and implemented a first iteration of each feature in the first week, holding user testing sessions with an Alpha group during week two. This provided immediate usability feedback and informed prioritisation of the roadmap for future development.
On day 10 we had Android and iOS apps available for the Alpha group and internal stakeholders. The NorthEdge team populated the app with valuable insight, news and resources that would bring the product to life.
Iterating and scaling to new audiences
Since that first release, Nexus has scaled to more than 100 business leaders using the platform. Beyond our original target audience of CEOs, we now have the MDs, CFOs, COOs and Chairs of the portfolio companies communicating and collaborating through the Nexus app.
Throughout the process we have been running user testing sessions with business leaders to gather their feedback and shape solutions to solve their needs.
Recent releases have included a tablet and web version, a partner network for finding trusted suppliers, group chat for asking questions to peers, direct messaging to chat to leaders throughout the portfolio and in-app notifications so important activity is never missed.
Conclusion
Beyond the countless new connections created and numerous direct messages pinging across the portfolio each day, the app is already delivering tangible benefits, such as:
• CEOs and CFOs having active discussions and seeking group advice on a wide range of topics
• One portfolio company purchasing services from another portfolio company via the app
• CEOs collaborating on joint procurement with a supplier
The Loomery team continue to partner with NorthEdge closely to evolve the app, adding new functionality and responding to user feedback.
"One of the key benefits of being part of the NorthEdge portfolio is the knowledge sharing that our businesses support each other with every day, and the access our portfolio has to our wider network for further support, capacity and idea generation. Building a dedicated platform has allowed us to combine all of these benefits into one, easy-to-use app."
— Lucie Mills, Head of Business Transformation at NorthEdge
