The LAUNCH Forum: People come first in a Circular Society
It’s our favorite time of the year! And while we love the holidays, it's bringing our amazing Innovators together with our committed Council Members at the LAUNCH Forum that we look forward to the most. Last week in Bentonville, Arkansas, ...
Uniting a global community to achieve a Circular Society: This week at the LAUNCH Forum
This week, a group of brilliant, talented, and resourceful Innovators are descending in Bentonville, Arkansas for the LAUNCH Forum. Joining them will be experts in circular economy, sustainability, and innovation, corporate pioneers, leading government agencies, investors and more, all with ...
Meet the 2018 LAUNCH Circular Innovators
Customers are sending a clear message - consumption patterns are changing, and changing quickly. But in order to truly shape a circular society, we need to mainstream these inspiring efforts. This year, LAUNCH has found 9 Innovators whose inspiring ideas ...
125 applications from 36 countries
We are thrilled to announce that we have received 125 applications from 36 different countries, all hoping to become one of the 10 selected innovators for the 2018 LAUNCH Challenge. Thank you all for your help, support, and excitement - ...
Why you should apply to LAUNCH Circular Challenge
https://vimeo.com/274485671 Are you also curious on what happens after you have applied? In the following you will learn why dozens of Innovators have joined our LAUNCH ecosystem and the benefits they have received. As a LAUNCH Innovator you will get access ...
VERGE 18 Call for Entrepreneurs!
VERGE 18 is happening in Oakland this October 16-18! LAUNCH has partnered with GreenBiz to get the word out about this amazing opportunity for innovators with solutions in energy, transportation, or the circular economy. VERGE is seeking entrepreneurs with early-stage ...
Can you help us find this year’s LAUNCH Circular innovators?
Imagine a world where all products are services. Instead of buying new expensive gear for every adventure - gear you might never use again - you rent it. Rather than buying a fleet of brand new bikes every time your ...
How do we make Circularity the obvious choice?
How do we make circular and more sustainable choices accessible and affordable for customers, and profitable for businesses? This question was at the center of this year’s LAUNCH Big Think that was held on April 9th at the eBay HQ ...
Thinking Big about Circularity
How do we accelerate the transition to a circular economy? How can customers, corporations, and governments help to shape a Circular Society? On April 9, 2018, eBay hosted the LAUNCH Big Think on Customer Engagement and New Business Models. It ...
Engaging Customers in shaping a Circular Society
What role can we, as customers, play in the transition to a Circular Society? WE HAVE HEARD IT ALL BEFORE... WE NEED TO SORT OUR TRASH, BUY SUSTAINABLY LABELED PRODUCTS, CHOOSE PRODUCTS WITH LESS PACKAGING, WHILE AT THE SAME TIME ...
Network Spotlight: Wendy Snowdon, World Health Organization
Wendy Snowdon works in the World Health Organization’s Division of Pacific Technical Support. Her work involves designing, implementing, and measuring the success of new strategies to combat the spread of non-communicable diseases (NCDs). Wendy advised LAUNCH on the design of ...
LAUNCH Food December Updates
Above: Innovator Joanna Kane-Potaka at the LAUNCH Food Forum. The LAUNCH Food accelerator period has proven to be a busy and exciting time for our innovators-- some are on the cusp of expansion, while others are gaining ground with newly ...
Seeding Magic Within The LAUNCH Food Cohort
LAUNCH Food has seen an unprecedented number of collaborations between innovators in this cohort. Here are just a few of the collaborative projects in the works: Biofilta has installed their Foodwall vertical gardening system at the George Institute, where innovator ...
Five Insights From LAUNCH Circular 2017
LAUNCH Forums have been described as “brain feasts” — opportunities for innovators and industry leaders to work together, finding ways to make high-impact innovations soar. The newest group of LAUNCH innovators gathered in Ebeltoft, Denmark last week for the 2017 ...
Innovator Spotlight: How Robert Oliver Aims To Inspire A Pacific Islands Food Revolution
Above: Robert Oliver at the LAUNCH Food Forum. The food of the Pacific Islands has always been close to Chef Robert Oliver’s heart. Born in New Zealand, Oliver moved to Fiji with his family when he was about ten years ...
Innovator Spotlight: Telenor Mobile Agriculture Redoubles Focus On Female Farmers
Above: Habib Saqib presents at the LAUNCH Food Forum. Many LAUNCH innovators find and realize new dimensions of their work through the LAUNCH process. For innovators Habib Saqib and Obaid Khan of Telenor Mobile Agriculture, the epiphany was that their ...
Eight Innovators With The Potential To Disrupt The Mobile, Textile And Furniture Industry
Pictured above: Elena Dieckmann and Ryan Robinson, co-founders of AEROPOWDER IMAGINE A WORLD WHERE YOU RATHER THAN OWNING ALL OF YOUR FURNITURE JUST HAD IT DELIVERED AS A SERVICE? OR A WORLD WHERE SMARTPHONES WERE MODULAR AND YOU COULD EASILY REPLACE ...
Network Spotlight: Kush Varshney and Aleksandra Mojsilović, IBM
Kush Varshney and Aleksandra Mojsilović at IBM’s T. J. Watson Research Center in Yorktown Heights, NY where they lead research on artificial intelligence and machine learning. (Photo: IBM) What does the future of food look like through the lens of ...
Meet 8 New LAUNCH Innovators Transforming Design And Manufacturing
Pictured above: Katrine Hesseldahl and Victor Strimfors, founders of StrataLayer. The LAUNCH Innovation Challenge 2017: Design and Manufacturing for a Circular Economy received an outstanding 112 submissions from innovators representing 39 different countries. Thank you to everyone involved in the ...
LAUNCH Food September Updates
As we round out our LAUNCH Food Accelerator, our innovators are busier than ever. Read on to see what they’re up to. HarvestPlus has been selected for the next round in the MacArthur Foundation’s 100&Change competition! They are now one ...
Network Spotlight: Jackie Saumweber
Jackie Saumweber has served as a LAUNCH Food Council Member since March 2017. Most recently, she worked as a senior manager on Walmart's global food sustainability team. In that role, she worked with government, nonprofits and industry to develop programs ...
How are you #InnovatingNow? Tell us during Global Innovation Week 2017.
On September 28, 2017 in Washington, DC, in coordination with Global Innovation Week 2017 (September 28 - 29), LAUNCH will host the #InnovatingNow Digital Event. This will also serve a digital showcase of the various, exciting ways in which innovation ...
Fabrics Innovator Ecovative Launches Grow-It-Yourself Lamp Kickstarter
By Matt Scott On Wednesday, September 20, 2017, LAUNCH Fabrics innovator Ecovative, in partnership with Danielle Trofe Design, kicked off a Kickstarter crowdfunding campaign for GROW, a grow-it-yourself mushroom mycelium lamp inspired by nature and designed in Brooklyn. As of ...
With DFAT Investment, LAUNCH Food Innovators Are Ready To Soar
Leaders from across the Pacific, including Julie Bishop, Australian Minister of Foreign Affairs, have come together in the city of Suva, Fiji this week to discuss regional challenges and priorities. On Saturday, Bishop was joined by Fijian Minister for Health ...
The LAUNCH Family And Our Innovators: What Are The Benefits?
At LAUNCH we are currently reaching out to communities, companies, academia, networks/hubs, incubator, accelerators, embassies and municipalities all around the world to find up to 10 innovators that should be part of the new generation of circular innovators. This year’s ...
Four new food products that are disrupting traditional supply chains
By LAUNCH Editorial Team With our planet’s growing population, rapidly decreasing land availability and increasingly unpredictable climate, we need to take a closer look at how we feed ourselves. Are we making the most of the space we have? Are ...
How technology is making us more efficient at growing food
By LAUNCH Editorial Team Growing food is about much more than putting a meal on a plate. Producing high quality food has repercussions on the economy, our health, and our educational outcomes… in fact, agricultural production and nutrition is essential ...
Join The Design Revolution To Enable A Circular Economy
PRESS RELEASE Imagine a world where every product was a service. A future of zero ownership. A future where all products were designed to last, to be reused, repaired and recycled keeping products and materials in the loop. It sounds ...
How consumer empowerment leads to corporate and legislative change
By LAUNCH Editorial Team Knowledge is power, so the saying goes. But real change is effected when that knowledge is applied to real-life situations, influencing behaviors and enacting change on an individual, corporate, and even legislative level. This is the ...
LAUNCH Circular Innovation Pop-up Series
by Davar Ardalan Dynamic conversations that explore game-changing systems shifts towards a circular economy On March 2-3, the LAUNCH Circular Innovation Summit brought together leading entrepreneurs, investors, researchers and business executives to the Nike’s world headquarters in Portland, Oregon, for ...
Engaging VR/AR Pioneers on the Future of Food
LAUNCH Legends roundtable included VR pioneers in the Bay Area, DFAT’s innovationXchange, co-President of the VR/AR Association in San Francisco, and experts in food systems and movement building as well as LAUNCH and SecondMuse team members. (Photo credit: Longfei Wang) ...
Launching Nutrition Solutions at the LAUNCH Food Forum
We’re reporting this week from the LAUNCH Food Forum in San Francisco. We’re here with our Innovators and the LAUNCH Food Council, a 50-strong group of experts, strategists, and decision-makers from across the food system who are committed to helping ...
How innovation is solving the food waste crisis
By LAUNCH Editorial Team Each mouthful of food we eat has its own story. Just think about your last meal. Where was it grown, how and by who? Can you picture its journey to your plate? Around a third of ...
How culinary storytelling is set to spark a Pacific Islands food revolution
By LAUNCH Editorial Team Chef Robert Oliver has been investigating ways to put food at the heart of discussions to solve the health crisis, an endemic which is very close to his heart. Pacific Islands Food Revolution (PIFR) aims to ...
LAUNCH Circular Innovation Summit brings together global brands
By Davar Ardalan Constraints on the planet are driving demand for resource-efficient and closed-loop products, services, and corporate models. But how do we create circular systems, material streams, and new business structures to support the transition to this new paradigm? ...
Building a Brighter Food Future with the LAUNCH Food Innovators
Between September and December of 2016, nearly 300 innovators submitted proposals to the LAUNCH Food challenge. The applicant pool spanned 74 countries across six continents, and their ideas ranged from farming hacks to more efficient processing methods to creative ways ...
Disrupting the Future of Chemistry
The results are in! The LAUNCH 2016 Chemistry Innovation Challenge has ended and five winning innovations will help accelerate a shift towards more sustainable molecules, mixtures, and materials. All five will all attend a Circular Innovation Summit at Nike headquarters ...
Happy 2017 from LAUNCH!
From all of us at LAUNCH, happy 2017! We couldn’t have done it without your support! Together we launched three global challenges aimed at disrupting the way we eat and the things we make. We had innovation convenings in Australia, ...
LAUNCH Food: 280 Innovations For A Healthier World
How can we improve health outcomes by enabling people across the world to make healthy food choices? In September, the LAUNCH team asked innovators to answer that question. Our call for applications closed last week, and we are thrilled to ...
Six Innovators Disrupt How We Reuse, Recover and Recycle Waste
Imagine a world where bacteria helped recycle plastic. Or a world where designers could access fabrics that would otherwise end up in landfills. Or a world where your old office chair was given a second life at a start-up or ...
The LAUNCH Food Countdown Begins
Could your innovation help disrupt the way we do food? Learn how to develop and submit your idea here. As innovators from six continents prepare to send in their LAUNCH Food ideas, we’re taking a look back at the insights ...
LAUNCH Legends: A Global Call for Immersive Storytelling
LAUNCH Food is thrilled to request global proposals following our recent VR/AR Reality Hack in Canberra, AU. The Hack created a space to ideate around the capacity of 360° video, virtual reality, augmented reality and gamification to strengthen public health, ...
Cooking For Impact With Robert Oliver: A World Food Day Q&A
By Kendra Yoshinaga Since 19 September 2016, we’ve been asking people to contribute to our Global Food Diary: a crowdsourced picture of what healthy eating looks like around the world. In honor of World Food Day, we’re wrapping up the ...
Meet this year’s six LAUNCH Nordic Innovators!
By Sissel Mai Ødegaard The LAUNCH Nordic Innovation Challenge 2016: Closing the Loop received 120 submissions from innovators based in thirty six different countries. Today, we are proud to announce the six selected Innovators: Globechain is a platform to connect ...
LAUNCH Chemistry and Predictive Design: It’s time to focus on data.
By Keira Havens Recently, Rafa Gomez Bombarelli, a post-doctoral researcher at Harvard University’s Department of Chemistry and Chemical Biology, joined me for a Reddit ‘Ask Me Anything’ Q&A about chemistry innovation and the #LAUNCHChemistry Innovation Challenge. The Challenge, developed by ...
LAUNCH Magazine
We live in a world that revolves around its countless moving parts. It is ripe with creative ideas, unique perspectives and constant reminders that innovation may come from anyone, anywhere, at any time. This exposure to a diversity of thoughts ...
#LAUNCHFood: Malnutrition By The Numbers
With our newest cycle, LAUNCH is taking on a challenge we’ve never tackled before: food. Why food? Let’s walk through the numbers. The global community has made great strides in curbing hunger worldwide: in the past 25 years, the number ...
Picturing Global Health With LAUNCH Food
By Kendra Yoshinaga Update September 19, 2016 at 1 p.m. Pacific Standard Time: The Global Food Diary response has been fantastic! Tweets & stories continue coming in from around the world for our Global Food Diary. The #LAUNCHFood hashtag has ...
#LAUNCHChemistry: How the World is Made & Making it Better
By Keira Havens Have you ever been curious about where the things you use come from? You’re in good company: the Discovery Science show “How It’s Made” lets people peek behind the scenes at manufacturing and has been going strong ...
#LAUNCHChemistry Kicks Off in Philadelphia
By Matt Scott The expo hall at the Pennsylvania Convention Center this past Monday was a maze of giant platforms and posters depicting the future of chemistry— unlocking the power of nanobubbles for instance and our latest innovation challenge, #LAUNCHChemistry ...
LAUNCH Takes ‘Virtual’ To The Next Level
By Kendra Yoshinaga As a virtual team, LAUNCH is able to work all over the world at the same time. But there’s nothing quite like sitting together, sharing chocolate, and allowing the sticky notes to flow and inspire. That’s why ...
Join #LAUNCHChemistry: Smarter Chemistry for a Greener Future
By Matt Scott LAUNCH is looking to transform the system of chemistry. Beginning today and through October 31, the 2016 LAUNCH Chemistry Innovation Challenge is calling for innovators, entrepreneurs, companies, and organizations to enable predictive chemical design through innovative applications ...
Kiverdi is Turning Carbon Dioxide into Food for the World
By Eleanor Greene Kiverdi has created a bioprocess which recycles carbon dioxide into high-value oils, raw renewable materials, and proteins, to be used in a variety of applications from everyday consumer goods to industrial products and fish feed. Since co-founder ...
From Surfboards to Luxury Cars, Connora Technologies is Solving Problems Through Green Chemistry
By Eleanor Greene In 2014, Rey Banatao brought Connora Technologies’ first thermoset polymers, called Recyclamines, to LAUNCH’s Green Chemistry cycle. Recyclamines are a game-changing technology for composite manufacturers and the environment, in that they lower the overall cost of goods ...
BioAmber: Making Bio-Based Plastics the New Normal
by Eleanor Greene When BioAmber came to LAUNCH for 2014’s Chemistry cycle, this sustainable chemicals company was looking for major traction to find investors and connections. Now, it has found that traction, as in 2015 it opened the world’s largest ...
Closing the Loop – how do we create a more sustainable society?
Imagine a world where instead of owning everything you leased it. We know it sounds a bit crazy. But what if it wasn’t? What if it was the birth of a sustainability revolution, where waste is turned into resources and ...
SEaB Energy Can Turn Waste to Electricity in Your Backyard
by Eleanor Greene In 2012 Sandra Sassow participated in LAUNCH’s Beyond Waste cycle on behalf of her company, SEaB Energy. SEaB is the designer and manufacturer of "micro power plants" that turn organic waste into heat, hot water or electricity ...
This Professor’s Innovation Brings Biomedical Testing to Your Mobile Phone
by Eleanor Greene Back in 2010, Dr. Aydogan Ozcan’s innovation, LUCAS by Holomic LLC, was chosen by LAUNCH advisors as one of the standout health innovations. The innovation was a miniaturized microscope and sensor that attaches to a cell phone ...
HYDRA PLATFORM: Data driven solutions for a complex world
by Eleanor Greene Six years ago, Julien Harou, innovator and professor at The University of Manchester (UK), participated in LAUNCH’s first cycle, Water. He represented a consortium of researchers working on Hydra Platform, an open-source software platform with apps that ...
Where Are They Now? LAUNCH Innovators are changing the world for good.
As the LAUNCH team gears up for the start of our 2016 cycles, we thought we would take a look at some our past innovators (One from each of our five earliest cycles: Water, Health, Energy, Beyond Waste and Fabrics) ...
LAUNCH Nordic 2016 – Closing the Loop
Everybody is talking about the potentials in the Circular Economy. But how do we create closed loop systems and material streams? How do we design and manufacture for disassembly and recycling? And how do we shift to new business models ...
Innovators from Two Cycles Team Up to Make Surfing Sustainable
by Eleanor Greene What happens when two innovators collaborate? They can make history. That’s what Ecovative, from System Challenge: Fabric of 2013, and Connora Technologies, from Green Chemistry cycle of 2014 are doing. Those companies, along with Enjoy Handplanes, Entropy ...
10 INNOVATIONS THAT COULD CREATE A BETTER WORLD OF MATERIALS
IKEA GROUP, NIKE INC., NASA, NOVOZYMES, KVADRAT, LEADING SCIENTISTS, INVESTORS, NORDIC AND U.S. GOV. REPRESENTATIVES WILL TEAM UP IN MALMÖ NOV. 4-5 TO SUPPORT 10 INNOVATORS IN SHAPING A MORE SUSTAINABLE WORLD OF MATERIALS. LAUNCH Nordic is a global innovation ...
LAUNCH Program Recognized for Supporting Small Business Innovation
This year the LAUNCH program and 23 small businesses, six individuals and two supporting programs are being recognized with a Tibbetts Award presented by the Small Business Administration (SBA). LAUNCH is receiving the Tibbetts Award for advancing the success of ...
Connora Technologies Wins Best in Show at California Technology Council’s First Pitch: Renewables
Congratulations to Connora Technlogies for winning Best in Show at the the California Tehnology Council's First Pitch: Renewables event. The California Technology Council has posted a Q&A with Connorra CEO Rey Benato and remarks, "The win for Connora reflects excitement ...
LAUNCH partners with Infocast on its Sustainable Chemicals & Plastics Adoption & Applications Summit
North America is projected to emerge as the global leader of the rapidly growing bio-based & sustainable chemicals and plastics industry. The industry received nearly $1B in investment in 2014, and North America has captured $2.2B over the past three ...
SEaB Energy’s smart city technology to be piloted in Canary Wharf, London
"SEaB Energy, a leading smart city innovator, has been selected to pilot their containerised, waste-to-energy technology at Canary Wharf after winning the second phase of the Cognicity Challenge. This will be the first time in thirty years that shipping containers ...
Bayer MaterialScience Chooses BioAmber as a Supplier of Bio-succinic Acid for Production of PURs
"BioAmber Inc. has been chosen by Bayer MaterialScience as the supplier of bio-succinic acid used to produce a new range of innovative, bio-based polyurethanes for textile applications that Bayer MaterialScience has begun commercializing." ...
Cross Sector Collaboration Aims to Revolutionize Sustainable Materials
NASA, IKEA Group, Novozymes, Nike Inc., Kvadrat, Nordic Government Institutions, leading scientists, designers and materials innovators join the LAUNCH Nordic Summit April 28 in Copenhagen, to shape a better world of materials. Materials have a significant impact on the planet ...
LAUNCH Initiative Supports Breakthrough Innovations to Advance Green Chemistry
LAUNCH founders NASA, NIKE, Inc., the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) and the U.S. Department of State will host the LAUNCH Green Chemistry Forum at NASA's Kennedy Space Center on January 23 and 24, 2015. LAUNCH is an open ...
Forbes 30 Under 30 List Recognizes LAUNCH Alumni
Forbes has announced their 30 Under 30 list which features a pair of LAUNCH innovators from past challenges. Eben Bayer, 29 and Gavin McIntyre, 29 are recognized on the Forbes list for their work using mycelium to create mushroom-materials through ...
USAID is incubating start-ups to tackle poverty problems
USAID is incubating start-ups to tackle poverty problems ...
LAUNCH NORDIC SELECTS INNOVATORS TO HELP REVOLUTIONIZE MATERIALS AND MANUFACTURING
IKEA Group, NOVOZYMES, KVADRAT, LEADING SCIENTISTS, INVESTORS AND NORDIC GOV. REPRESENTATIVES WILL TEAM UP IN MALMØ TO SUPPORT NINE LAUNCH NORDIC INNOVATORS. As part of LAUNCH Nordic, a newly established US-Nordic collaboration, 30 industry executives, materials experts, government officials and ...
LAUNCH Systems Alumni Ecovative Works With Danielle Trofe Design to Create Mushroom Table Lamp
Wired.com features LAUNCH Alumni Ecovative in this article titled "This Lamp Is Grown From Mushrooms". Ecovative worked with Brooklyn-based studio Danielle Trofe Design to create the Mush Lume lamp. Wired writes, "Aesthetically, the Mush-Lume was crafted to pay homage to ...
The U.S. Department of State Releases Their “State of Global Partnerships Report” LAUNCH is Featured on Pages 22-23
The U.S. Department of State has released their "State of Global Partnerships Report". LAUNCH is featured on Pages 22-23. Check it out! (36.8mb PDF) ...
Nike named as one of the world’s most innovative companies, for setting a sustainability example.
Nike was named by Fast Company as one of the World's Most Innovative Companies ...
10 Sustainable Business Stories Too Important to Miss
Andrew Winston at the Harvard Business Review has written a great top ten list meant "...to summarize some of the latest stories about the big environmental and social pressures on business, and how some innovative companies are dealing with them." ...
LAUNCH surfaces 10 innovations that could change the world
The Guardian describes why "wasted milk may one day be converted to a silk-like fiber replacement for cotton, thanks to an innovative technology called Qmilk." ...
Philippines wants Chapel Hill startup’s help with typhoon relief efforts
"Aquagenx, a UNC-spinoff that provides microbial water testing products, is deploying its "compartment bag test" at the request of the Philippines’ government." Congratulations to Mark Sobsey and team for their continued efforts to help the world identify safe water sources ...
LAUNCH: Systems Innovator Ecovative Wins Buckminster Fuller Challenge!
We are proud to share that Ecovative, a LAUNCH: Systems innovator, has won the Buckminster Fuller Challenge this year. "Each year, the Buckminster Fuller Institute awards $100,000 to support the development and implementation of a solution that has significant potential ...
4 Lessons From Space Missions for Launching Your Startup
"The careful orchestration required for a space mission, from pre-launch through final landing, is similar to a startup’s process of mapping and executing complex decision trees." LAUNCH Council Member Kathryn Lewis describes what she learned at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory ...
10 Innovations Poised to Change Sustainable Industries
Mashable discusses this year's LAUNCH Systems Challenge innovations and asks, "Do you think these innovations might actually change the world?" ...
Watch the live video and join the conversation!
Join us from 9am-12:30pm PDT on September 27 and 28 for the LAUNCH: Systems Challenge 2013 Forum. We'll be livestreaming the event on http://mindmapr.launch.org and using the hashtag #LAUNCH2020 to talk about the ten remarkable innovations that will be presented ...
LAUNCH Valuation Report
The LAUNCH Valuation Report aims to capture the impact of LAUNCH as a social entrepreneurship enterprise beyond conventional return on investment. To better understand the value impact of LAUNCH, the valuation model developed for LAUNCH explores the underlying motivations, approaches, ...
Congratulations to the 2013 Top 10 LAUNCH Systems Challenge Innovators
Congratulations to the 2013 Top 10 LAUNCH Systems Challenge Innovators Ambercycle Recycling Artificial Honey Bee Silks by CSIRO BARKTEX by Bark Cloth Ltd Benign by Design by University of California at Santa Barbara Biocouture Ltd Blue Flower Initiative by Eileen ...
Promethean Power Continues to Make Progress
As you may recall from our last update, 6 months ago we had just closed our Joint Venture with India's most successful ice equipment manufacture in Mumbai, received our biggest purchase order to date, and closed a round of funding ...
Tell Us What You Think!
There is a vibrant LAUNCH innovations conversation happening throughout Google+, Facebook, Twitter, Vimeo, and Flickr. Let us know what you think about the top 20 innovations in our current challenge ...
Public Voting for the Systems Challenge is ON!
With an enthusiastic tweet of, "Public. Voting. Now. Please share, we need you. http://vote.launch.org " we have turned on public voting to select the final 10 LAUNCH innovations for this year's Systems Challenge. A wide variety of technologies and innovations ...
Designer Eric Benson Describes the LAUNCH 2020 Summit
"LAUNCH 2020 hoped to harness the collective wisdom of the experts in the room to encourage innovation, collaboration, and transparency in business and beyond." In this summary of the LAUNCH 2020 summit, designer Eric Benson describes how the the two-day ...
Bioneedle Posts Video “Vaccination Technology of the 21st Century”
Bioneedle, an innovator chosen during our LAUNCH: Health Challenge has released this lnformative and lighthearted video about how they are improving vaccination technologies ...
HALO Fuel Cell: A Charger For Your Outdoor Needs
"Get lost in the woods, but don’t lose your charge! The HALO powers devices for the outdoor enthusiast and emergency preparedness." LAUNCH: Energy Alumni Point Source Power has started a kickstarter for their HALO fuel cell to gather funding for ...
LAUNCH Alumni SEaB Energy Wins Resource Revolution Award
SEaB Energy, a LAUNCH: Beyond Waste alumni won this year's Resource Revolution Award with their micro-anaerobic digestion system that can be installed in a transportable shipping container. The Resource Revolution Award was presented to SEaB CEO Sandra Sassow on May ...
This Device Turns A Charcoal Stove Into A Cell Phone Charger
Popular Science has posted an article featuring LAUNCH: Energy alumni Point Source Power. Enthusiastically, PopSci explains that, "VOTO is a new device that turns fire into a power source for cell phones. Now, where there's fire, there can be modern ...
LAUNCH named one of ‘Top 25 Innovations in Government’ by Harvard’s Ash Center
The LAUNCH team is proud to have been chosen as a leading example of innovation in the US federal goverment ...
The LAUNCH Approach: Fostering “A Collective Genius for a Better World”
by Liz Muller I was recently invited to participate in a special LAUNCH event, which was held at Nike's headquarters this week. I was so impressed with the event that I wanted to share some highlights with you. Founded by ...
Nike, NASA, U.S. State Department and USAID seek innovations to revolutionize sustainable materials
Nike hosts LAUNCH 2020 Summit to collaborate across the system of materials ...
LAUNCH Seeks Innovations That Will Transform the System of Fabrics
We are interested in innovations with potential to scale in 2 years, as well as game-changing early stage technologies and prototypes. Innovations can be business models, financial instruments, technologies and programs that accelerate research, education and capacity building ...
LAUNCH Energy Alumni SEaB Energy Featured on Fuel Greener
Running under the headline of "SEaB Energy – allowing your business to convert its waste into energy. For free." is a great piece about LAUNCH: Energy innovator SEaB Energy. Read about how SEaB is able to convert waste into energy ...
Asthmapolis Raises $5 Million in Series A Funding
“Asthma alone is a $50 billion problem in the United States. We look forward to accelerating our commercial efforts to improve asthma control and produce sizable economic savings,” said David Van Sickle, CEO and co-founder of Asthmapolis. Mark Gehring, Asthmapolis ...
Gram Power Talks About the Power of LAUNCH
Yashraj Khaitan of Gram Power presented an integrated microgrid technology at LAUNCH: Energy on November 12, 2011. After receiving an email about Gram Power's recent successes we caught up with Mr. Khaitan to talk. Yashraj had this to say about ...
Words of Wisdom from the Big Think
The core team met with a variety of sustainability experts on March 1st, 2012. The all-day round table discussion, we call it a Big Think, was to identify areas of interest that could be addressed by a LAUNCH: Beyond Waste ...
LAUNCH: We know WHY. Do you?
Last week, we held our West Coast LAUNCHpad Salon with the LAUNCH team to talk lessons learned from two successful events, LAUNCH:Water and LAUNCH:Health; and start planning LAUNCH:Energy. The Cazneau Group, one of our implementation partners, hosted the Salon at ...
Breath of Opportunity for Innovative Asthma Management
Asthmapolis was one of the companies selected to participate in the LAUNCH Health program which began last fall with the Forum. In collaboration with a diverse group of experts and innovators, the LAUNCH Forum provided a great opportunity to share ...
LAUNCH Heads West
Beth, Diane and Victor, members of The LAUNCH Team, visited the Jet Propulsion Laboratory last week (January) as part of a recon for the next LAUNCH forum. That's right - looks like LAUNCH is headed west this time to Pasadena, ...
LAUNCH – Powering Innovation & Success Through Energetic Support
Hydrovolts was recently featured at LAUNCH: Energy at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida as one of ten transformative innovations demonstrating promise to make a tangible impact on society. Hydrovolts is a floating hydrokinetic turbine technology deployed in artificial water ...
Launching Towards An Energized Future
This is our future. Instant non-battery charges. Heat generated pumping. Charging mobile phones and LED lights with a cookstove. Collective genius for a better world. It was an energetic week for entrepreneurs in Orlando at the third LAUNCH Challenge, headlining ...
Recipe for the Future
Start with the partnership of four forward-thinking organizations. Add in ten teams of innovators with clear visions and unwavering passion. Combine with a council comprised of esteemed scientists, formidable entrepreneurs, and thought leaders from various realms. Blend together, and what’s ...
Why talking about (and practicing) “innovation” really does matter
As someone immersed in the day-to-day work of attempting to drive a large organization’s approach to innovation, I have sometimes thought about permanently banning the word “innovation” from my own lexicon. The term “innovation” is being bandied about pretty broadly ...
Turbococina in the News
We recently received an update from Turbococina founder René Nuñez Suarez. After attending the LAUNCH Energy Forum René has received media interest from throughout Latin America. Mr. Suarez has since been highlighted in an article in his country's El Salvador ...
LAUNCH team has been named to FierceGovernment’s “Fierce 15”
The "Fierce 15" champions innovation and creativity. The 2012 Fierce 15 winners are: Richard Boly, Director, office of eDiplomacy, State Department Bureau of Land Management's Renewable Energy Program, Interior Department Kathryn Catania, Plain Language and Content Management Division Chief, United ...
Goonj gets WEF award for social entrepreneurship
Goonj, a voluntary organisation working with poor communities and helping preserve the environment by recycling cloth and other waste material was given the ‘Social Entrepreneur of the Year India 2012’ award here on Tuesday. The award was given by the ...
30 Innovations That Will Change The World: LUCAS
LAUNCH innovator LUCAS is rated #7 in 30 Innovations That Will Change The World ...
Asthmapolis Receives FDA Clearance for Asthma Inhaler Sensor Technology and Accompanying Software System
Asthmapolis announced today that it has received U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) 510(k) clearance to market its asthma sensor system and associated software to healthcare providers and their patients. ...
India’s The Economic Times Highlights Gram Power
Gram Power: Yashraj Khaitan's 'smart microgrid' produces, stores renewable energy on location ...
The Unknown Inventor Whose Work Is Saving The Developing World
Ashok Gadgil is a professor at UC Berkeley. But in his spare time, he’s come up with solutions for water, cooking, and energy quandaries, improving lives from the Sudan to India. How does he do it? He just likes a ...
White House Blog Post – LAUNCHing Ideas for a Waste-less Tomorrow
by Ron Garan As a participant of the first LAUNCH forum, LAUNCH: Water, and someone who recently returned from six months experiencing the orbital perspective of our planet from 240 miles above the Earth, I invite innovators from around the ...
ITN Energy Systems to Present at ARPA-E Energy Innovation Summit
ITN Energy Systems, Inc. to Demonstrate Flexible Electrochromics at ARPA-E Energy Innovation Summit Technology Showcase ...
Hydrovolts Finds Current Energy Where It Wasn’t Possible Before
A plan to capture micro-hydropower bubbling up out of wastewater treatment plants ...
Solanterns Secures Energy and Environment Partnership Funding
We are proud to announce, that the Solanterns Initiative, run by Renewable Energy Ventures (K) Ltd., signed an agreement with the Energy and Environment Partnership Programme with Southern and East Africa (EEP S&EA). Under this agreement, EEP provides a grant ...
Partnering to LAUNCH Innovative Energy Technologies
From November 11-13, the U.S. Department of State is partnering with the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), NASA, and NIKE, Inc. to host the LAUNCH: Energy Forum at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida. ...
LAUNCH:Energy Super-Charged!
Sparks fly when innovative thinkers join together to address critical issues — like solving the world’s sustainability problems. ...
LAUNCH of New Ideas To Generate, Store, and Distribute Energy
Rebecca Taylor serves as Senior Adviser for Entrepreneurship and Innovation in the Office of the Science and Technology Adviser to the Secretary of State. She is a member of the LAUNCH core team and the LAUNCH Council. As I look ...
LAUNCH: Energy Forum—Fueling Ideas, Propelling Innovation
During the second day of the LAUNCH: Energy Forum, the mood was a bit lighter, as the group had bonded the previous night over an informal dinner. ...
LAUNCH: Energy Forum—An Update From Mission Control
During the first day of the LAUNCH: Energy Forum, innovators from around the world gathered in one of NASA's Mission Control Rooms to present their energy-related technologies. In the audience, I was joined by more than 30 government and business ...
U.S. Department of State Partners to Host LAUNCH: Energy Forum
The U.S. Department of State is partnering with the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), NASA, and NIKE, Inc. to host the LAUNCH: Energy Forum November 11-13, 2011 at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida. ...
USAID Addresses Global Energy Issues Through LAUNCH Challenge
WASHINGTON D.C. – The U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), NASA, the U.S. Department of State, and NIKE, Inc. have partnered on a unique initiative called LAUNCH. The LAUNCH: Energy Challenge, announced today, formally begins the third module of the ...
U.S. Department of State Profiles LAUNCH: Energy Challenge
Partnering To Address Global Energy Issues Through the LAUNCH Energy Challenge by Jim Thompson, Deputy Special Representative for Global Partnerships in the Global Partnership Initiative within the Office of the Secretary of State. ...
LAUNCH Innovation Wins $300,000 Vodaphone Americas Foundation Wireless Project Prize
NETRA is an inexpensive mobile visual testing tool, which is a clip-on eyepiece for mobile phones that can instantly screen for eye conditions and transmit data to an optometrist, allowing for early treatment of common refractive eye disorders and cataracts ...
BBC News:Health Profiles mChip LAUNCH Innovation
Tiny blood card offers easier tests for remote areas A cheap and portable blood test could provide a breakthrough for diagnosing infections in remote areas of the world, a scientific study says ...
Washington Post Profiles mChip LAUNCH: Health Innovation
Rapid, cheap HIV test finds success as first of its kind tested in the field The first field trial for a “lab on a chip” accurately detected both HIV and syphilis among a Rwandan population, researchers reported Sunday. ...
USAID: “Calling All Energy Innovators!”
USAID and its partners in the LAUNCH program (NASA, the State Department, and NIKE, Inc.) have issued our LAUNCH: Energy challenge statement, formally beginning the third module of the LAUNCH program. ...
U.S. Department of State partners with LAUNCH
Secretary's Office for the Global Partnership Initiative partners with NASA on LAUNCH: WATER ...
The Atlantic Profiles LAUNCH: Health Innovator, NETRA
9 MIT Media Lab Ideas That Are Changing Lives (or Will Soon) We may not know what the future holds, but we can take a pretty good guess where it will come from: MIT's Media Lab. ...
LAUNCH:Water Finalist Registers World’s First U.N. Clean Water Carbon Credit Program
(Kigali, Rwanda 20 June 2011) Manna Energy Limited, an international leader in combining carbon finance markets with developing communities, today announced the registration of the world’s first United Nations Clean Development Mechanism carbon program for water treatment. ...
Diane Powell Speaks on Federal News Radio
NASA's LAUNCH aims for innovation Biodegradable needles that dissolve inside the body are just one of the innovative technologies NASA's LAUNCH program is helping get off the ground. ...
Diane Powell Channel 8 News Interview
NASA's shuttle program may be over, but that doesn't mean the space agency has stopped in its tracks. NASA has created the Launch program that bridges the gap between the public and private sectors. The government and businesses are working ...
LAUNCH Team Named as Federal Service Award Medal Finalists
2011 Finalist—Science and Environment Medal Diane Powell and the LAUNCH Team Position: Team lead, LAUNCH, Office of the Chief Technologist Agency: National Aeronautics and Space Administration Achievement: Created a unique government and private-sector partnership to identify, support and help take ...
LAUNCH: Health Innovation Technology Profiled by BBC News
A cheap holographic microscope capable of detecting E. coli and other bacteria has been developed by researchers in the US ...
Heavenly Answers for Earthly Problems
I’m SO excited to share details about NASA’s newest, coolest, never-been-done-before sustainability initiative, LAUNCH:Water. ...
NASA And USAID To Sign Agreement To Tackle Worldwide Problems
WASHINGTON -- Reporters are invited to the signing of a formal agreement between NASA and the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) to promote collaboration on scientific and technological solutions to worldwide problems. The memorandum of understanding addresses such challenges ...
NASA and USAID Pledge to Advance International Development with Science and Technology
WASHINGTON, D.C. – NASA and the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) have agreed to expand their joint efforts to overcome international development challenges such as food security, climate change, and energy and environmental management. ...
Starting With Water, NASA’s LAUNCH Points Directly Toward Earth
When confronted with a challenge, it’s often helpful to achieve some distance from the problem. By taking a few steps back, we’re suddenly able to take in a broader and more holistic view of the matter than we can with ...
Prince Sultan Bin Abdulaziz International Prize for Water to Berkeley Lab’s Ashok Gadgil
A team led by Lawrence Berkeley National Lab (Berkeley Lab)’s Ashok Gadgil is the recipient of the 5th Prince Sultan Bin Abdulaziz International Prize for Water ...
Bridging the Clothing Divide
Goonj featured in a David Bornstein article in the New York Times... "Goonj is bringing efficiency and integrity to work that is often handled carelessly and without consideration for the lasting effects on communities." ...
LAUNCH Forum Connects Resource Challenges On Earth and In Space
LAUNCH: Beyond Waste Forum July 20-22, 2012, NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory Twitter: @Launchorg | #BeyondWaste › Watch Live and Join the Conversation ...
UK Waste Tech Selected by NASA Backed Sustainability Initiative
MuckBuster technology developed by Southampton, UK based biowaste to energy specialist, SEaB Energy has been selected as one of nine 'game changing' innovations that have the potential to transform the current waste management systems and practices by NASA backed sustainability ...
LAUNCH Borg: Collective Genius
From Beth Beck's Blog: We are the LAUNCH Borg, the Collective Genius for a Better World. ...
NASA seeks innovations for space waste
NASA is turning to innovators for ways to re-purpose waste in space. The space agency is partnering with the State Department, USAID and Nike to solicit sustainability plans that could be applied to space missions. The LAUNCH: Beyond Waste challenge ...
Press Release: NASA JPL Hosts Launch: Beyond Waste Forum
PASADENA, Calif. -- NASA and partners from the LAUNCH: Beyond Waste forum will discuss innovative ideas for waste management during a 3-day forum July 20-22. Waste management is important for planning long-duration human spaceflight missions to an asteroid, Mars or ...
Press Release: USAID AND PARTNERS NASA, NIKE, DEPARTMENT OF STATE ANNOUNCE LAUNCH: BEYOND WASTE INNOVATORS
WASHINGTON, D.C. – The U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) and fellow founding partners NASA, the U.S. Department of State, and NIKE, Inc. announced today the nine innovators selected to participate in their LAUNCH: Beyond Waste challenge. ...
The Road to the LAUNCH: Beyond Waste Forum
LAUNCH, a public-private partnership, facilitates the discovery of transformative technologies to create a sustainable future. Innovators trying to solve world problems often take years to develop technologies and their dedication shows in the submissions we receive. We on the LAUNCH ...
Press Release: USAID and Partners Announce Launch: Energy Innovators
WASHINGTON, DC - The U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) along with fellow founding partners NASA, the U.S. Department of State, and NIKE, Inc. announced today the ten innovators selected to participate in their LAUNCH: Energy challenge. ...
The Next Industrial Revolution Starts in this 20-foot Shipping Container
The guys at Re-Char, a small startup that makes carbon-negative products, were faced with a problem. They wanted to ship products to Kenya, but the options available were wasteful, costly, and not nearly as efficient as simply manufacturing near to ...
Sanergy Discusses the Business of Waste
LAUNCH Innovator Sanergy is featured in USAID's Frontines publication. Sanergy hosts a marketing event in a Kenyan community to generate demand for its low-cost, hygienic sanitation centers. The toilet facilities are proving to be one solution to the long-standing problem ...
OPKO Health Awarded NASA Contract
News from LAUNCH: Health Innovator Samuel Sia: OPKO Health, Inc. (OPK) has been awarded a contract and selected to participate in a development project directed by NASA to implement the OPKO point-of-care diagnostic platform (Claros-1™) with the objective of in-orbit ...
A ‘Micro’ Solution to India’s Major Energy Woes
Gram Power's Yashraj Khaitan and Jacob Dickinson featured in USAID's Frontlines publication. Yashraj Khaitan (left) and Jacob Dickinson, both founders of Gram Power, stand next to several solar panels in India. The panels are part of Gram Power’s central infrastructure ...
Applause for Promethean
Got milk? I know some people who do. Promethean Power Systems is revolutionizing the Indian dairy market with their commercial refrigeration systems that eliminate the need for backup diesel generators. The path of Promethean is an impressive one: from a ...
Fast Company Showcases LAUNCH: Water Innovators on World Water Day
In the developing world, a billion people go without clean water. Across the developed world, storms and failing infrastructure threaten to contaminate water supplies. Is there any hope to be found? ...
In rural Rajasthan, Gram Power’s solar-powered microgrid kept the lights working and the buttermilk churning
Indian blackout held no fear for small hamlet where the power stayed on. At the end of July, India experienced the worst blackout in modern history. At least 20 states lost power in three huge grid failures covering an area ...
Promethean Power Recognized as an Industry-Changing Technology Pioneer
World Economic Forum recognizes 23 pioneering tech companies for innovation and leadership in IT/new media, energy/environment and life sciences/health ...