Procter & Gamble Innovation Brief Call for Startup Submissions

Procter & Gamble is looking for new approaches and technologies that can help them to address their broad range of sustainability challenges/opportunities. The following innovation brief(s) will provide a high-level overview of specific business goals and needs, as well as a high-level overview of what they are looking for in a solution. 

To submit a solution, please reply directly to this opportunity posting AND complete the form at http://bit.ly/3bFTRDm 

Process Overview: 

• Complete the P&G Innovation Brief Response Form - (http://bit.ly/3bFTRDm) 
• All responses will be reviewed and you will be notified as to whether the response has been accepted for further consideration. 
• If accepted, you will be contacted by a Pilot44 Research Analyst to schedule a meeting to present additional detail on your company and solution as well as, where applicable, to provide a demonstration of your product. 
• If contacted for next steps, additional detail on the client needs will be provided during at that time, as well as additional information on the review, selection and award process. 
• You can send any specific questions to submissions@pilot44.com 

Brief Name: A Force for Growth and Good: Making Sustainability an Integral Part of both Our Brand’s Superiority and Our Consumer’s Daily Experience 

Brand and Business Background 

For over 180 years, P&G has built brands that people trust and love, enabled by a culture of innovation and superiority across all elements of the consumer value proposition. In today’s market, we recognize that consumers want brands that both meet their traditional value and performance expectations, and also help solve some of our world’s most complex social and environmental challenges. Promoting responsible consumption is core to our mission. To meet these expectations, P&G is committed to ensuring that social and environmental sustainability are an integral part of our brand’s superiority. 

Business Challenge 

P&G has long been a leader in sustainable manufacturing and supply chain, from the adoption of sustainable energy to the use of advanced technologies to protect watersheds. And while we continue to invest heavily in these areas, we recognize that new ideas and practices around sustainability must also extend beyond our walls to reach across every aspect of our consumers daily life. We are looking for a wide array of thought leaders, technologists, and startup partners. We want to work with people who can help P&G to implement the next generation of sustainable practices. We want to find better ways for our consumers to experience our brands – from how the products are designed and packaged to how they are responsibly sold, fulfilled, consumed, and disposed of. 

Areas of Focus 

Selected applicants from this brief will have the opportunity to present their ideas and solutions to P&G’s Global Leadership Council, led by the CEO and comprised of senior executives from across all aspects of the company. This group, along with P&G subject matter experts, is looking for tangible solutions to the sustainability challenges consumers care most about. P&G looks at sustainability from the consumer’s perspective. The company wants to help them to understand and adopt more sustainable and responsible products, solutions, and consumption models. While it is okay for a solution to still be early in its development, it should not be theoretical. Rather, proposals should have a strong vision for a path to scalability, in a context that P&G can help enhance. Specific areas of interest include, but are not limited to, the following: 

• Material recycling/upcycling: This includes both solutions that promote a circular economy as well as technologies and practices that increase global recycling throughput. 
• Alternative packaging and fulfillment models: P&G is looking for a focus on improving packaging materials and designs. This also includes approaches to bulk packaging or alternative delivery models that reduce waste and increase transparency. 
• Promotion of sustainable practices: This may include novel business models and “smart” solutions that enable responsible consumption, such as using less resources, materials, energy, and water. 
• The future of plastic: We would like to end plastic waste by leveraging alternative polymers and materials that can be more effectively composted, recycled or upcycled. We are specifically interested in applications for films and flexible packaging. 
• Water conservation, treatment, and preservation: We are interested in solutions that allow for reduction and reuse of water from the perspective of both the P&G supply-chain and consumer at-home consumption. 
• Biodiversity benefiting people and the planet: This includes natural/safe products and ingredients; responsible ingredient sourcing; and promoting plant biodiversity. 
• Sustainable supply chain: Address how can brands and retailers collaborate to deliver more sustainable, end-to-end solutions to consumers. Includes collectively setting responsible “guardrails” (e.g. packaging and ingredients) and governance. 
• Ingredient and raw material traceability: Proactively monitor ingredient trends/substances of interest to understand if and where they exist in the supply chain. 

What You Do Next 

Place a submission on this website and submit a summary of your solution, approach, and/or technologies that can help P&G to bring sustainable products and practices to the world. Please indicate how you would propose piloting your solution. We look forward to partnering with you!