Request for Applications

Greentown Labs and Evonik request applications from startups with novel biodegradable polymers and sustainable specialty chemicals for the personal-care industry. Greentown Go Make 2025 with Evonik strives to advance sustainability and reduce the environmental impact of the personal-care industry with the development, introduction, and commercialization of biodegradable polymers and sustainable specialty chemicals.

Program benefits for startups

• A structured platform to engage leadership from Evonik and explore potential partnership outcomes, including joint development, licensing, investment, and more. Please see below for an expanded list of potential Evonik partnership and collaboration activities
• Mentorship, networking opportunities, and partnership-focused programming from the Greentown community of climatetech startup experts
• Exclusive access to the Greentown and Evonik networks

What we’re looking for

The global personal care market generated approximately $440 billion in 2022 and is expected to reach $580 billion by 2027. Personal-care products, used for hygiene, cosmetics and beautification, cleaning, and grooming, today represent between 0.5 and 1.5 percent of global GHG emissions and contribute to environmental pollution after use. Consumers are increasingly demanding more sustainable, natural, and environmentally friendly alternatives, creating both a need and an opportunity for sustainable innovation in the industry.

This multifaceted market that encompasses thousands of products with innumerous formulations—ranging from skincare products to hair care, baby care, UV protection, makeup, and cleansing products—is ripe for innovations that reduce manufacturing emissions and revamp products’ end-of-life impact. 

To meet performance parameters, many of these products currently incorporate non-biodegradable polymers. These products face a challenging journey beyond their use; collecting and recycling is not an option for cosmetic formulations, which instead wash into wastewater and the broader environment after use. Biodegradability is therefore of fundamental importance in addressing personal-care products’ life cycle impact.
Evonik aims to meet this consumer-driven demand with sustainable ingredients for personal-care products that are safe for people and the environment. Go Make 2025 with Evonik is looking for startups at Technology Readiness Levels (TRL) 4-7 that create or enable biodegradable polymers and other sustainable specialty chemicals that reduce the impact of personal-care products on humans, ecosystems, and the climate.

Technology Scope Areas

Biodegradable Polymers and Sustainable Specialty Chemicals for Personal Care

1. Replacements for non-biodegradable polymers
   • E.g., replacements for polyacrylates used as rheology modifiers or film formers or for silicones used as hair conditioners, emulsifiers, or emollients
2. Methods to improve performance and reduce costs of biodegradable polymers for personal care
3. Ingredients or processes to improve biodegradability of incumbent polymers
4. Sustainable specialty chemicals for personal care
   • Bio-based feedstocks or side streams
   • Carbon reduction in all scopes of the life cycle
   • Sustainable alternatives for thickeners, conditioners, and film formers with lower environmental footprints

The technologies of interest listed are non-exhaustive. We encourage startups with out-of-the-box solutions for sustainable specialty chemicals in the personal-care industry to apply.

Partnership with Evonik

Evonik is open to exploring the following types of partnerships with startups selected for this program:

• Demand-side partnerships, such as:
  • Joint-development agreement
  • Licensing
• Supply-side partnerships, such as:
  • Purchase order
  • Service agreement
• Equity partnerships, such as:
  • Investment
  • Acquisition

Enabling testing and discovery activities that may be conducted during the program include: proof-of-concept, application testing, customer discovery, techno-economic analysis (TEA) review, scale-up collaboration, market research, team building, access to Evonik’s global customer network and value chain, access to technical expertise and expertise in performing life cycle assessments (LCAs), and access to market and business expertise.

Eligibility and Guidelines

• Submit your completed application through the YouNoodle online portal by Jan. 30, 2025 at 11:59 p.m. ET.
• Be available for virtual and/or in-person interviews after the application deadline if selected for further rounds.
• Disclose the status of any intellectual property (IP) relevant to your submission. Do not submit confidential information in the application process. Startups selected for the program may enter into non-disclosure agreements (NDAs) to protect their intellectual property throughout Go Make 2025.
• Applicants may apply from anywhere in the world.
• A tentative program timeline is as follows (dates subject to change):
  • Application Deadline: Jan. 30, 2025
  • Application Review: February-March 2025
  • Startup Notification: April 2025
  • Workshop 1: May 22, 2025
  • Workshop 2: July 17, 2025

Greentown Labs is committed to increasing diversity, maintaining an inclusive community culture, and creating a more sustainable planet for all. We welcome applications from founders and teams of all backgrounds, regardless of their ethnicity, race, gender, religious beliefs, sexual orientation, age, marital status, veteran status, or whether or not they have a disability.

• ABOUT GREENTOWN LABS

  The global personal care market generated approximately $440 billion in 2022 and is expected to reach $580 billion by 2027. Personal-care products, used for hygiene, cosmetics and beautification, cleaning, and grooming, today represent between 0.5 and 1.5 percent of global GHG emissions and contribute to environmental pollution after use. Consumers are increasingly demanding more sustainable, natural, and environmentally friendly alternatives, creating both a need and an opportunity for sustainable innovation in the industry.

   

  This multifaceted market that encompasses thousands of products with innumerous formulations—ranging from skincare products to hair care, baby care, UV protection, makeup, and cleansing products—is ripe for innovations that reduce manufacturing emissions and revamp products’ end-of-life impact. 

   

  To meet performance parameters, many of these products currently incorporate non-biodegradable polymers. These products face a challenging journey beyond their use; collecting and recycling is not an option for cosmetic formulations, which instead wash into wastewater and the broader environment after use. Biodegradability is therefore of fundamental importance in addressing personal-care products’ life cycle impact.

  Evonik aims to meet this consumer-driven demand with sustainable ingredients for personal-care products that are safe for people and the environment. Go Make 2025 with Evonik is looking for startups at Technology Readiness Levels (TRL) 4-7 that create or enable biodegradable polymers and other sustainable specialty chemicals that reduce the impact of personal-care products on humans, ecosystems, and the climate. Greentown Labs is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit accelerating climatetech innovation and commercialization by empowering entrepreneurs and enabling collaboration. As the largest climatetech startup incubator in North America—with locations in Somerville, Mass. and Houston, Texas—Greentown convenes the climatetech ecosystem to provide entrepreneurs the community, connections, and resources they need to thrive. The incubator offers lab space, shared office space, machine shops, electronics labs, tool shops, software and business resources, and a large network of corporate customers, investors, and more. Greentown is home to more than 200 startups and has supported more than 575 since its founding in 2011; these startups have collectively created more than 11,000 jobs and raised more than $7.5 billion in funding. For more information, visit www.greentownlabs.com or follow Greentown on LinkedIn.

• ABOUT GREENTOWN GO

  Greentown Labs’ Greentown Go programs inject momentum and traction into startup-corporate collaborations to decarbonize the global economy, unlocking the power of climate solutions at scale. These accelerator programs operate along five tracks, corresponding to the five major greenhouse gas-emitting sectors: Go Build (buildings), Go Energize (energy and electricity), Go Grow (food and agriculture), Go Make (manufacturing), and Go Move (transportation). Each track leverages the same proven Greentown Go framework that has delivered dozens of partnership outcomes to date, including pilots, licensing agreements, investments, joint-development agreements, and more.

• ABOUT EVONIK

  Evonik is one of the world leaders in specialty chemicals. The company is active in more than 100 countries around the world and generated sales of €15.3 billion and an operating profit (adjusted EBITDA) of €1.66 billion in 2023. Evonik goes far beyond chemistry to create innovative, profitable, and sustainable solutions for customers. About 32,000 employees work together for a common purpose: We want to improve life today and tomorrow.

  Sustainability is at the core of Evonik’s Research Development & Innovation

  For Evonik, innovation and sustainability are fundamental elements of a future-oriented business model. Therefore, the company is continuing to focus on strong research and development so it can make a wide range of contributions to drive forward the green transformation—both within its own sphere of activity and its customers’.

  In September 2024, Evonik announced a new innovation strategy—stepping up its focus on sustainability. To this end, it is bundling a large proportion of its R&D activities in three new innovation growth areas: bio-based solutions, the energy transition, and the circular economy. These should generate additional sales of €1.5 billion by 2032, compared with 2023.

  At Evonik, we go beyond chemistry to make life a little better day in, day out—a goal we are committed to. We aim to have a direct, positive impact on everyone’s life by enhancing the properties of our customers’ products. Our purpose is hence the driving force behind our strategic decisions, through which we naturally take responsibility for the present and future generations. Learn more at https://www.evonik.com.

• ABOUT EVONIK VENTURE CAPITAL

  With a fund size of €400 million, Evonik Venture Capital (EVC) has made 55 investments since 2012, both direct and fund investments. From its offices in Germany, the USA, and China, EVC invests in innovative technologies and business models in the Innovation Growth Areas Advance Precision Biosolutions, Accelerate Energy Transition, and Enable Circular Economy. The scope ranges from early stage to growth stage with an investment volume of up to €15 million per portfolio company. https://venturing.evonik.com.

Contact

• Dominick Protomastro, Program Manager, Partnerships, [email protected]