Nouryon (formerly AkzoNobel Specialty Chemicals) has announced the 13 finalists for the 2019 edition of its Imagine Chemistry collaborative innovation challenge. Imagine Chemistry was launched to tackle chemistry-related challenges and uncover new ways to create value for customers. The 2019 edition generated more than 160 innovative ideas from startups, scale-ups, university spin-outs, and other potential partners.

The finalists will participate in an intensive three-day event in May at the company’s RD&I center at Deventer, the Netherlands, where they will work with Nouryon experts and business leaders to further develop their ideas into a joint value case.

Winners are granted awards ranging from joint development and research agreements to dedicated support from Imagine Chemistry partners. Unilever, for example, a key customer of Nouryon and a partner in the “Sustainable bio-based surfactants” challenge, offers the opportunity for winners to collaborate with its R&D teams and test facilities to move their ideas to the next phase of development.

“Imagine Chemistry is part of our focus on partnerships to drive growth and help us develop the essential solutions our customers need,” said AB Ghosh, managing director Surface Chemistry at Nouryon. “I’m impressed by the quality of submissions and the ideas of this year’s finalists are highly interesting. I’m looking forward to seeing who we’ll be working with to help drive sustainable growth in the future.”

In three years Imagine Chemistry has generated more than 500 solutions, and several are entering the commercial phase. These include Semiotic Labs, which uses machine learning and proprietary sensors to predict when and why equipment fails; and Invert Robotics, which provides safer, non-destructive inspection services using state-of-the-art mobile climbing robots.