KERNLAB: The R&D laboratory of KERN-IT
The KERNLAB is the Research & Development lab of KERN-IT, a Belgian software company based in Brussels. Products, SaaS, AI agents, prototypes and software experiments are born here with a single logic: turning ideas into concrete solutions.
KERN-IT dedicates around 30% of its time to R&D, supported by Innoviris funding and European programmes.
Our approach to digital R&D
At KERN-IT, R&D is not a siloed department. It's a daily practice, embedded in how the company operates. Three principles guide every experiment.
Reduce uncertainty
Test ideas before investing heavily. Every hypothesis is confronted with the field before being industrialised.
Produce learnings
Every experiment produces knowledge, even when the hypothesis is invalidated. A documented failure is as valuable as a success.
Make informed decisions
Experiments make it possible to decide whether to invest, pivot or drop a project, with the facts in hand.
Our 3 R&D axes: internal, clients and partnerships
KERNLAB's R&D is organised around three complementary axes: internal R&D, R&D with clients, and R&D in research partnerships.
Internal R&D
Continuously strengthen KERN-IT's technological and organisational capabilities.
- Process improvement : optimising development methods, workflows and technical practices
- Internal tools and agents: building AI agents and software tools to support teams and structure knowledge
- Technological experiments : advanced architectures, distributed systems, AI, vibe coding, vibe engineering
- Continuous learning : exploring new approaches and developing experimental prototypes
R&D with clients
KERNLAB supports companies, startups and project owners in exploring and validating new digital solutions : SaaS products, platforms, AI solutions, innovative business tools.
The cost of development has shifted. With vibe coding and AI tools, building a v1 has become fast and accessible. Discovery is still useful, but it's no longer a mandatory multi-week phase. The project's maturity is what sets the entry point: a working prototype in a few days, or straight to code if the idea is already clear.
Idea to explore
Light discovery, quick scoping and a prototype to test the hypothesis
Clear idea, ready to code
We jump straight into the code and ship a working v1 quickly
Proof of Concept
Demonstrate the viability of a technological approach
MVP
Build a first usable version of the product
- Discovery workshops and design sprints
- Business Model Canvas et prototypes interactifs
- No-code, low-code and rapid software prototyping
- Advanced vibe coding and vibe engineering
R&D in partnership
Some KERNLAB projects are run as research collaborations with academic, institutional or industrial partners, in Brussels and across Belgium. These projects can be backed by Innoviris, European programmes or local innovation initiatives.
In these projects, KERN-IT does not limit itself to industrialisation. KERNLAB takes an active part in the research work.
- Exploring new technical approaches
- Designing experimental architectures
- Building research prototypes and demonstrators
- Technical validation of research hypotheses
Your SaaS on the market in weeks, not quarters
Got a SaaS idea, a startup to launch, or a digital product to validate? KERNLAB is built for that. We deliver your v1 fast, we frame your Go-to-Market, and we support you on the technical side and on growth hacking. The goal: test the market with real data instead of assumptions.
Prototype & vibecoding
Vibecoding, vibe design, vibe engineering, agentic coding : de l'idée au code en quelques jours. Pas de cahier des charges de 80 pages, on construit pour apprendre et itérer.
Landing page & pricing
Clear sales page, testable pricing plans, social proof and analytics. Ready to convert from the very first visitor.
Stripe integration
Recurring payments, subscriptions, free trials, webhooks, billing. Clean monetisation from v1.
Scaling & sustainable stack
An architecture that holds up when users arrive. No tech debt that blows up at 1,000 customers.
Go-to-Market
Positioning, persona, acquisition channels, messaging. We frame the go-to-market before burning any budget on it.
Growth hacking
Key metrics, viral loops, A/B tests, activation and retention. We help you measure what matters and iterate fast.
Free 30-minute audit to frame your SaaS project
A concrete conversation with a senior: we look at your idea, your market, your stack and your next steps. You walk away with an actionable recommendation, whether we work together or not.
From idea to product : the KERNLAB innovation cycle
The KERNLAB innovation cycle follows 4 stages : Discovery, Prototype & PoC, MVP and Industrialisation. Each stage validates hypotheses before moving on to the next. We move forward on evidence, not assumptions.
Discovery
Understand the need, explore the constraints and identify the hypotheses to validate.
Prototype & PoC
Build a first version to test a use case or prove the technical viability of an approach.
MVP
Build a usable Minimum Viable Product, testable with real users.
Industrialisation
Move into production with a solid, scalable, secure architecture ready to grow.
KERNLAB products and solutions
Some projects stay as prototypes. Others become products or solutions running in production. Here are the projects born from KERNLAB.
KERNEL, the digital heart of KERN-IT
KERNEL is a tailor-made internal operating system designed to manage all of KERN IT's operations. Rather than a generic ERP, KERNEL centralizes operational oversight: timesheets, invoicing, dashboard, monthlies, weeklies. Built by and for our needs, KERNEL also serves as an experimentation platform with reusable functional blocks adaptable to other business contexts.
A.M.A, internal AI agent
A.M.A (Artificial Management Assistant) is KERN-IT's internal AI agent, born in 2018 and revived with the arrival of LLMs. Built on top of KERNEL, the company's digital core, A.M.A manages timesheets, monitors overall operations, generates reports, analyses operational behaviour and takes part in conversations like any other colleague.
PeppolOutbox, Peppol e-invoicing
PeppolOutbox is a SaaS for e-invoicing compliant with the Peppol standard, built for the Belgian e-invoicing obligation. Every flow is parsed and transformed through a custom mapping developed for each ERP or accounting software. A single OutBox centralises submissions on the Peppol network via a certified Access Point. Fewer errors, fewer rejections, more compliance.
Kenobi, intelligent SD-WAN platform with Venn Telecom
Kenobi is an intelligent, vendor-agnostic SD-WAN platform born from an R&D project run with Venn Telecom and co-funded by Innoviris and VLAIO. Built to operate multi-site, multi-carrier and multi-technology networks, Kenobi centralises the supervision of several thousand network points, automates diagnostics, integrates Starlink and uses geographic data via GISWAN to optimise deployments.
AI Remembers, AI serving historical heritage
AI Remembers is a research project funded by the European Union, run in partnership with the Liberation Route Europe Foundation and the University of Caen Normandie. The project explores how artificial intelligence and Machine Learning can be embedded into the preservation and interpretation of World War II heritage, making historical narratives more interactive and accessible.
Barnai, AI for job search
Barnai is a LAB project exploring how artificial intelligence can be applied to job search. Smart matching between candidates and offers through semantic understanding of profiles and needs.
OPTIMAX™, the optimisation programme for public sites & apps
OPTIMAX™ is the KERN-IT advanced optimisation programme for public websites and applications. A two-tier methodology: baseline optimisations then advanced optimisation, to improve performance, perceived speed, SEO & AI visibility and the quality of the public-facing front-end. Starts with a free audit.
Magnet, lead capture platform
Magnet is the KERN-IT platform dedicated to B2B lead generation. It hosts our interactive simulators, downloadable whitepapers, topic landing pages and qualification forms, all lead magnets that turn traffic into a measurable commercial pipeline. All our free tools are available there.
Capyly, chat rooms anchored to physical places
Capyly turns every physical place (café, park, event venue, coworking space) into a real-time chat room. Instead of following profiles, you follow places : you join the conversation of the venue you're in, share recommendations, coordinate meetups, find out what's happening right now. Designed for shops, events and public spaces, Capyly is in pre-launch.
Negosim, AI-powered negotiation simulator
Negosim is a negotiation simulator where every user faces an AI counterpart in realistic scenarios: B2B sales, salary negotiation, fundraising, supplier procurement, partnerships, contracts. After each exchange, a detailed score measures performance and tracks progress over time. Designed for sales, procurement, HR, legal and consulting teams, Negosim turns negotiation into a skill that can be trained daily, at a fraction of the cost of traditional training.
CarMessenger, communication between drivers
CarMessenger is an innovative communication platform between drivers. Through licence-plate identification, CarMessenger lets you reach a driver without sharing any phone number. Badly parked car, mechanical issue spotted, unexpected roadworks: a message is sent through the platform and the driver is notified by email.
KernImmo, property management for Belgian landlords
KernImmo is a SaaS property-management platform designed for Belgian landlords and property managers. Real-time rent tracking, full rental lifecycle (from application to notice), self-service tenant portal with magic-link login, categorised maintenance tickets and an AI assistant that answers natural-language questions about your portfolio. Simple per-unit pricing, 14-day free trial.
Take over a lab project, become its CEO
Alone we go fast, together we go far. Let's merge our skills.
KernFusion is KERN-IT's startup studio. KernLab validates more ideas than it can industrialise. Rather than letting already-built projects and products gather dust, we look for operators to turn them into viable spin-offs. You take over a project, we keep pushing it forward technically, you focus on what actually makes a product take off : sales, marketing, traction.
KERN-IT delivers. The product already exists, you take the wheel right away.
First revenue. You collect your share from the very first sales.
Your revenue share converts into equity. No dilution before traction.
What you get
- A deployable, already-tested product
- The business plan, market analysis and initial pricing
- A technical team that keeps shipping
- The design system, the brand and the first commercial assets
- A 12 to 18 month head start over a founder starting from scratch
The profile we're looking for
- Ex-founder or seasoned sales / BD operator
- You know the hard part isn't the code, it's distribution
- You have a network in a vertical and the drive to plant your flag in it
- You want to move fast, not spend 18 months coding a v1
- You share our values : we move forward on evidence, not assumptions
Two ways to get on board
CEO Partner : Revenue Share → Equity
Start in revenue sharing, convert to equity at the first fundraise. You drive the commercial strategy and co-pilot the roadmap with our product team.
Product leasing
You run the company independently, with a fixed + variable royalty, and KERN-IT steps back to the role of tech vendor. For operators who want a clean cap table.
Our technical stack and architecture choices
Every KERNLAB project rests on explicit technical choices. We don't try to stack up technologies, we design systems that are understandable, maintainable and built to evolve.
Open source, well-mastered and durable technologies. No proprietary dependencies, no lock-in.
- Modular, service-oriented architectures
- Separation of business core and infrastructure
- Applied AI (LLM, RAG, agents)
- Security and resilience
FAQ
Project owner, startup, SaaS founder: let's talk about your idea
Validate an idea. Build a prototype. Launch an MVP. Frame a Go-to-Market. Integrate Stripe and scale. KERNLAB is built for that.
Based in Brussels, we support companies and startups in Belgium and across Europe. 30-minute free audit, no commitment.