With the pace of innovation accelerating, our world faces monumental challenges that demand speed, agility, and seismic change. To keep up, we’re reimagining the core of our business and embracing disruptive ideas in innovation.
No single company has all the answers when it comes to meeting the needs of such a dynamic market. This is why collaborations are a vital component of our business strategy as some of today’s most groundbreaking innovations are coming from external sources such as start-ups.
Our approach to open innovation is comprehensive and reflects this new reality. We have a team of venture professionals dedicated to identifying and connecting with start-ups so that we are harnessing the most cutting-edge scientific and creative breakthroughs available.
To promote innovation, our Ventures team is collaborating with startups at all stages. Among many things, we’re sponsoring pitch events to connect start-ups with a broad array of our business and technology leaders. These connections have led to several promising collaborations that allow us to further grow in adjacent markets while providing new and exciting solutions to our customers.
We’re also promoting innovation in Israel by partnering with the Israel Innovation Authority. This partnership supports food industry startups in their initial stages in a variety of ways, including sharing our knowledge about industry processes and technologies, international regulations, and general food science expertise. We’re also helping to build business plans, develop patent strategies, and help test products in the market.
Start-ups also need financial support, which is why we’re also supplying funding with the purpose of verifying their concepts. This holistic approach allows us to fully support emerging businesses as they work to gain traction with their products in a highly competitive market.
By connecting innovators and entrepreneurs with the industry at an early stage, we can accelerate success and shorten development time.
Securing partnerships is critical while developing a transformative new technology like IFF’s Designed Enzymatic Biomaterials (DEB).
According to Christian Lenges, Venture Director, Health & Biosciences, this is the phase of innovation where “the rubber meets the road” – or where you start getting real-life insights into customer interest.
“These partnerships proved that there were others that believed in this innovation as much as we did, willing to commit resources and work alongside us to help turn this ground-breaking biotech research into a commercial reality.”