GLOBAL STARTUP CHALLENGE 2019
AkzoNobel’s first Paint the Future global startup challenge was live from January to March 2019. From the 160 startups that submitted their solutions, 21 participants were selected for our three-day accelerator event in Amsterdam. In the end, six were chosen to formally continue their journey with AkzoNobel and partner KPMG.
PAINT THE FUTURE 2019
The Winners of the Paint the Future startup Challenge 2019!
ABOUT THE CHALLENGES
SMART APPLICATION
How could your solution change or improve the way customers apply our products?
CIRCULAR SOLUTIONS
How would your solution enable circular use of materials at any point in our value chain?
ENHANCED FUNCTIONALITY
What exciting new functionality can your technology offer to make coatings cleaner, more responsive or adaptive?
LIFE SCIENCE INFUSION
How can your solution, containing bio-active technology, help bring better performance or innovative features to our coatings?
PREDICTABLE PERFORMANCE
How can we collect and augment data more innovatively to make predictions for real world surface performance more accurate?
HOW DID IT WORK?
We invited startups to submit solutions related to specific challenge areas via our collaborative platform from January to March 2019. Our experts collaborated with the startups on the platform to improve their solutions and explore the potential to collaborate. The 21 teams with the most promising submissions were invited to a three-day collaborative event with experts and business leaders. We’re now working together with the winners on sustainable business opportunities.
For all other participants, the journey also continues. Startups on the platform are still in touch with dedicated experts of AkzoNobel to accelerate their solutions and explore mutual opportunities.
WHAT’S NEXT?
Since that first big step we took in 2019, launching a successful industry-first global startup challenge, we’re now growing to welcome suppliers, academia and customers into the Paint the Future innovation ecosystem. Find out more below.
Our programs
Paint the Future is the ecosystem for accelerating new innovations in paints and coatings.
Through our platform and programs, innovators get access to resources to help commercialize their solutions. It’s all about connecting what we know with what we don’t know yet.