Konica Minolta Opens Business Innovation Center

Konica Minolta, Inc. has opened its first Business Innovation Center (BIC) in North America. Located in Foster City, Calif., the 3,500-square-foot center is one of five BICs that will be set up around the world designed to identify new technology solutions to provide accelerated growth opportunities through acquisition, investment or platform integration.

As an engine of growth for Konica Minolta, Inc. businesses, the North American BIC will work closely with a diverse range of entities, to include research institutions, partner companies, venture capitalists and startups, to identify new business areas, products, services and technologies. The center will have a broad focus with the goal to add new business and product lines that will bring emerging and disruptive solutions into Konica Minolta’s portfolio. The solutions can range from cloud-based service offerings, such as software-as-a-service (SaaS), and business process-as-a-service (BPaaS) solutions, but would not be limited to these. Through the BIC, Konica Minolta will work to gain a deeper understanding of its customers’ evolving needs, industry forces and technologies that are reshaping businesses. The BIC will then incubate, invest or acquire solutions that will deliver differentiated value propositions to Konica Minolta and its customers.

“Technology advances continue to disrupt established industries while new business models are reshaping the customer experience,” says Tom Taiko, chairman and CEO, Konica Minolta Business Solutions U.S.A., Inc. “The new North American Business Innovation Center will bring together customers and thought leaders to collaborate and share ideas to accelerate the development of new innovative technology solutions. The center will nurture entrepreneurship and support our brand promise to give shape to new ideas.”

Industry veteran Ekta Sahasi will be leading the North America Center. Sahasi is a 15-year industry veteran who has a proven track record of fostering innovation, most recently as the director of Research and Innovation Products at PayPal, an eBay Inc. company.