10 top innovators was invited to participate in the LAUNCH Nordic Forum on the 4-5th of November 2015 in Malmö, Sweden.

LAUNCH Nordic is a global innovation platform tackling sustainability challenges within the system of making and materials. The core partners behind LAUNCH Nordic are IKEA, Novozymes, and Kvadrat, as well as the Global Green Growth Forum (3GF), The Danish Ministry of the Environment, Region Skåne, Malmö Stad, VINNOVA, and Capital Region of Denmark. It was founded in collaboration with LAUNCH, a strategic partnership between NIKE, NASA, The U.S. Department of State and The U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), with the goal of harnessing the strengths of the Nordic region to accelerate innovation in sustainable materials and how they are made.

On April 28, 2015, the LAUNCH Nordic Challenge was announced, where innovators were invited to submit ideas and solutions that answer the question: How can we—through new types of materials, or alternative ways of using known materials—significantly increase sustainability in production, manufacturing, and recycling? The final date for innovation submission was August 12th, 2015.

LAUNCH Nordic received close to 100 applications from 35 countries, covering six continents. All submissions were reviewed by an international panel of subject matter experts, and 10 top innovators are now invited to participate in the LAUNCH Nordic Forum taking place the 4-5th of November, 2015 in Malmö, Sweden.

The top ten LAUNCH Nordic innovators 2015 are (in alphabetic order):

  • AEROGEL (Sweden)
  • AVESPA, BLUE WOLF (USA)
  • EKOBALANS (Sweden)
  • MODTI (Finland)
  • NIL TECHNOLOGY (Denmark)
  • POND (Denmark)
  • PAD HEAVEN (Kenya)
  • PAXYMER (Sweden)
  • SAPROGLUE (Latvia)
  • WET-GREEN (Germany)

The innovators presented their ideas and innovations to the LAUNCH Nordic Council during the Forum in November. The Council is made up of leading industry and government representatives, materials experts, and investors. Following the LAUNCH Nordic Forum, innovators will enter an accelerator program where they will have access to mentoring, networking opportunities, and key investors to enable them to bring their innovations to scale.

Source: LAUNCH Nordic