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 process. It has been an amazing journey and we are honored to receive responses from such an interesting group of solutions from around the world. Today, it is our pleasure to announce the eight selected innovators:
- Circular Devices – PuzzlePhone is a modular smartphone designed for longevity and circularity; it is customizable, repairable, and upgradable
- EON – The industry’s first RFID tag in the form of a thread that can integrate with textiles to power recycling
- Living Ink Technologies – Making renewable and biodegradable printing ink from algae
- Colorifix – Converting agricultural residues into pigments and dyed textiles using no acids or solvents – just sugar and biology
- StrataLayer – Modular build furniture that changes according to life scenarios
- AEROPOWDER – A sustainable insulation material created from waste feathers
- Recircular – A brokering platform that proposes alternatives for a given waste stream and connects the generator with potential consumers
- University College, London – A new policy that companies only sell the lifetime services of their products but retain ownership of the materials
The LAUNCH team and partners selected this year's eight innovators following an extensive review conducted by more than 42 professional experts from research organizations, government institutions, and global companies. Each of the selected innovators offer solutions to accelerate Circular Economy using new design techniques and alternative ways of manufacturing and production.
These eight selected innovators are invited to attend this year’s LAUNCH Accelerator Forum at LAUNCH partner Kvadrat's HQ, November 29-30. At the Forum the innovators will be joined by 35 industry executives, government officials, investors, and experts in design, manufacturing, and materials. Here, everyone will work together to support and help scale the innovations by offering one-on-one mentorship, access to market partners, and facilitated opportunities for investment with LAUNCH partners and others.
If anyone is interested in one of these innovators, or has ideas that can help them scale, please reach out to Toke Sabroe at toke@launch.org.
This year, we will be providing live updates from the Forum, so do not miss out! Make sure to connect with us on Facebook for live videos and interviews, and follow us on Twitter with the hashtag #LAUNCHCircular for highlights and a live Twitter conversation.