Driven by innovation
Innofest accelerates sustainable and social transitions by testing impact innovations in practice in living labs. Using our proven Test Like The Best method, we support innovators from test design through on-site execution in real-world settings such as festivals and events. Over the past ten years, we have supported more than 400 impact innovations, gathering data and feedback from real users and stakeholders so solutions improve faster, become ready for implementation, and can scale.
After participating in the Innofest program
92%
Recommends (a test with) Innofest
85%
Has accelerated its innovation
77%
Is still active
40%
Raises money Meer info
Testing in living labs
Festivals and other living labs are real-world environments where many elements come together: technology, users, logistics, safety, and operations. Because everything happens at once, they function like a micro-society—making them ideal for testing assumptions under real conditions.
In this context, we help impact innovations build evidence: does it work, for whom, under which conditions, and what needs improvement? Using our proven Test Like The Best method, we support innovators before, during, and after the test. Together with a team of innovation experts, we translate goals into a clear test design, collect data and feedback from real users and stakeholders, and turn the results into concrete next steps towards implementation and scaling.
We're collaborating with:
Apply for the Innofest test & validation program
Does your innovation contribute to a sustainable and social society? Innofest supports you through a series of guided sessions leading up to a real-world test. You will test your solution at a festival or another living lab and use the results to take your next step.
Register hereWe test at:
Test like Innofest
Effective testing makes innovations better and better innovations accelerate sustainable and social transitions. That’s why we design every test with care: with clear assumptions, measurable success criteria, and an approach that fits real-world conditions.
Good testing also means daring to fail, as long as you learn from it. Our innovation experts work with the Test Like The Best method: a set of steps and test formats that help identify risks early, turn uncertainty into evidence, and translate results into concrete decisions. This prevents you from only discovering at a later stage that something doesn’t work as expected.
At the same time, you build evidence that supports conversations with investors, partners, and launching customers.
Want to learn more about our method? Read our whitepaper.
Circular
Energy
Water
Health
Food
Tech
Construction
Social
All cases
News
Testing Five Innovations at Into The Great Wide Open 2025
Since 2016, Into The Great Wide Open has offered a testing ground for innovations that contribute to a more sustainable society. Over the past years,…
read more
How MDT, HvA and Innofest help students learn from the audience
During the Kwaku Festival in Amsterdam, two student teams tested their concepts with visitors. Validatielab MDT, Venture Centre HvA, and Innofest made this possible. In…
read more
A sunny weekend of testing on the Zeeland coast during Concert at SEA
This year, the sunny Zeeland coast and Concert at SEA set the stage for a food innovation premiere. For the first time, Innofest was present…
read more