Startups are about to embark on another exciting journey of discovery and collaboration with AkzoNobel – it’s launch day for the Paint the Future global startup challenge 2021.

Startups have until July 20 to submit their ingenious solutions to Paint the Future. All submissions will receive feedback from industry experts. Selected finalists will be invited to a collaboration event in late 2021. Winners will be offered partnership agreements to work with AkzoNobel on sustainable business opportunities.

“Pioneering new technologies and solutions for our customers is something we’ve been doing for hundreds of years,” says Klaas Kruithof, Chief Technology Officer. “Today, with the rapid development of technology in so many areas, we invite others to join us in pushing boundaries – beyond expectation, imagination and generations. Paint the Future is how we drive collaborative innovation in the paints and coatings industry.”

The company’s unique win-win approach to innovation is proven to work. New technologies and complex solutions can be developed much faster through collaboration. In just over two years, Paint the Future has produced 18 successful solutions.

“For startups, think how much more you could do with access to AkzoNobel’s expertise, resources and global reach – as well as the knowledge held by the 2,220 members in our collaborative innovation ecosystem,” says Ally van der Boon, Paint the Future Program Manager. “This is an incredible opportunity for you to develop and accelerate your solution. Imagine how far we can go together.”

The 2021 Paint the Future program will explore solutions to five challenges:

• Enhanced functionality: What exciting new functionality and/or transformative power can your technology offer to bring surfaces to life?
• Customer experience: How could your solution improve the way our customers experience our products and services?
• Smart application: How could your solution change or improve the way paints and coatings are applied?
• Circular solutions: How would your solution enable circular use of materials at any point in our value chain?
• Smart manufacturing and supply chain: How can your solution help us create and adopt smarter manufacturing and supply chain solutions?

Ready to paint the future with us? Join the global startup challenge at letspaintthefuture.com

 

About Paint the Future

Launched in 2019, Paint the Future is AkzoNobel’s global collaborative innovation ecosystem. It’s a bold initiative to accelerate, test, launch and scale ideas and solutions for the paints and coatings industry. Paint the Future runs a variety of programs to accelerate innovation. Initially open to startups, it was quickly expanded to embrace academia, research institutes and two large groups of suppliers. As the ecosystem continues to grow and build on the success of each program, it’s become the largest in the industry.

 

About AkzoNobel

We’ve been pioneering a world of possibilities to bring surfaces to life for well over 200 years. As experts in making coatings, there’s a good chance you’re only ever a few meters away from one of our products. Our world class portfolio of brands – including Dulux, International, Sikkens and Interpon – is trusted by customers around the globe. We’re active in more than 150 countries and have set our sights on becoming the global industry leader. It’s what you’d expect from the most sustainable paints company, which has been inventing the future for more than two centuries.