Idea Validation Case Study #2: Simplifying Stakeholder Communication with Proap

From Idea to Execution - turning project management pain into product progress

Proap was developed to tackle one of project management’s most common frustrations in the financial sector: keeping multiple stakeholders aligned. The concept is simple, a one-page, dynamic view that communicates project plans clearly to everyone involved.

Proap is one of the promising early-stage startups supported by our Idea Validation Grant programme.

View of Proap's project management tool from their website

The Challenge

Project teams in the financial sector often spend hours reformatting the same data into multiple reports for executives, multiple stakeholders, delivery teams, and constantly dealing with competing priorities.

Proap set out to test whether a single, dynamic “plan-on-a-page” could keep everyone aligned, with the flexibility required in the financial industry all while saving time and improving clarity.

The Approach

Guided by Trove, Proap adopted a lean validation strategy. Using no or low-code tools, the team built a working prototype capable of producing automated “plan-on-a-page” summaries. Real-world testing focused on usability and clarity across different project roles, with Trove acting as one of the first internal testers.

Key Insights & Learning

• Stakeholders want simplicity and adaptability - top-level clarity with the option to “drill down” into detail.

• Visual presentation and information hierarchy matter more than feature volume.

• Lean, no-code methods can achieve meaningful validation faster and at lower cost.

The Impact

Proap is now in beta testing, with early users validating its ability to simplify financial sector project communication. The Trove framework has provided a clear structure for testing, learning, and iterating, enabling the product to evolve based on real user behaviour before scaling further.

What’s Next

The next milestone is gathering structured quantitative feedback from beta users to refine interface design, onboarding, and pricing. The goal is to convert early engagement into measurable adoption data ahead of a wider commercial rollout.

Reflection from Carl at Trove

“We’ve been really pleased with the progress on this one. The founder took our feedback from the early workshops and built an MVP that’s already adding real value. In fact, even though Proap is designed for the financial industry, we’re using Proap ourselves to track and share updates with TECH SY on the progress of other founders in the Idea Validation Programme. If you’re running projects in the financial sector, with multiple stakeholders - or know someone who is - send me a message on LinkedIn and we’ll connect you with Proap to see what it can do for you while helping us test it further.”

There's a free version of the Proap tool available if you would like to try it out for yourself.