Innovate with us

Apply to Unilever's open innovation challenges

Here’s a list of open innovation challenges where we’re always looking for new partners to help us tackle. Click through the dropdowns to learn more and submit your idea or initiative below.

• Our Business Groups

  Beauty & Wellbeing and Personal Care

  • Alternatives to microplastics, silicones and mineral oils
  • Natural/biobased UV filters to boost sun care efficiency with low cost performance
  • Biodegradable polymers that can be deposited from formulations for extended hygiene benefit (ie residual antimicrobial kill)
  • Prebiotics for microbiome control
  • Novel measurements of skin physiology
  • Microbiome re-profiling technologies that can selectively eliminate or reduce colonisation by specific bacteria on skin or oral cavity
  • Solutions for acne, sebum control, improved healing, and the prevention or treatment of scars
  • Bioactives that balance the biological clock
  • Probiotics for beauty and personal care products

  Learn more about our Beauty & Wellbeing and Personal Care portfolios.

  Submit your idea or initiative

  Home Care

  • Stable salt hydrates
  • Tough stain removal
  • Sustainable and natural feedstock alternatives
  • Detergent powder with no water insolubles
  • Natural fabric whitening agents
  • Natural materials for stain removal and hygiene

  Learn more about our Home Care portfolio.

  Submit your idea or initiative

  Nutrition and Ice Cream

  • Non animal derived alternatives (such as dairy)
  • Biotechnology for sustainable ingredients
  • Plant protein
  • Positive nutrition
  • Next generation of plant-based meat products
  • Solutions to reduce energy consumption in ice cream freezer cabinets

  Learn more about our Nutrition and Ice Cream portfolios.
  
  Submit your idea or initiative

• Our sustainability priorities

  Climate

  • Renewable energy transition
  • Carbon capture and utilisation (CCU)

  Nature

  • Regenerative agriculture and positive action on nature

  Plastics

  • Plastic alternatives and transformation
  • Sustainable packaging (dry foods)
  • Sustainable packaging (ice cream)
  • New routes to improved quality post-consumer recycled plastic
  • Carbon neutral or regenerative packaging
  • Improved recyclability of aerosol deodorant packaging components

  Learn more about our Sustainability goals

  Submit your idea or initiative for one of these challenges

Can’t see a challenge that matches your idea?

If you have an idea that doesn't fall under any of the above topic areas and is relevant to Unilever and its business, we’d still like to hear from you. Please share the details here

• What to expect once you’ve submitted your idea

  Responding to these challenges is easy as 1, 2, 3 and 4:

  1. From the list above, identify a challenge that your idea could contribute to solving. These challenges change regularly and are updated on this page.
  2. Submit your details and an outline of your idea through the form linked to the challenge.
  3. Our partner agency Yet2 will process your submission and provide you with feedback.
  4. If your submission is successful, we will be in touch to discuss your idea further.
• Will my submission be confidential?

  Our Innovation Ecosystem partner, Yet2, screens all submissions before passing on successful ones to the scientists and technologists at Unilever. We only need high level information initially and won’t ask for any details that compromise confidentiality.

  If your submission is passed on to us by Yet2, we’ll draw up a confidentiality agreement with you before asking you to share any further information.

  If you have any questions, you may find the answer in these FAQs.

Are you a start-up wanting support to accelerate?

For our biggest sustainability challenges, we’re involved in a number of programmes through which we provide start-ups with mentorship, pilot support and network connections. Many of these start-ups have gone on to partner with us post-programme.

Get inspired by previous partnerships

The collaboration between our experts and partners powers the development of innovations behind our products. Here are just some of the recent achievements of our innovation ecosystem.

• Unilever Kenya’s sustainable packaging revolution

  Unilever Kenya was facing obstacles in acquiring an adequate supply of affordable, high-quality PCR material for packaging.

  So in 2019, TRANSFORM^[a] provided a grant of £300,000 and business guidance to Mr Green Africa – a Nairobi-based plastic recycling company – to explore consumer behaviour change tactics and enhance its operational model. In 2020, TRANSFORM’s introduction to the Global Innovation Fund resulted in a major capital boost for Mr Green Africa, which began supplying PCR to Unilever.

  Thanks to TRANSFORM’s support and the Fund’s investment, Unilever Kenya introduced its first packaging made entirely from recycled material under the Sunlight brand. By 2022, Mr Green Africa had completed its Series B funding and was ramping up its operations in Kenya.

  

• Next-gen packaging: startup-powered auto-replenishment

  Unilever has taken a huge leap beyond the common QR code by pioneering an ecosystem for connected packaging. This initiative is at the cutting edge of the industry, focusing on advanced touchpoint technologies such as Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) and biosensors, alongside immersive media and experience platforms that incorporate augmented reality (AR). The project also includes data and feedback platforms that deliver deeper consumer insights.

  We evaluated 117 start-ups working in this space and strategically partnered with 11, among which one ground-breaking auto-replenishment tool emerged as a perfect match for our forward-thinking strategy.

  What would typically take over a year in research was achieved in just two weeks, allowing us to swiftly move forward with pilot tests for the tool and engage in substantive discussions on future projects. This rapid progress underscores our commitment to maintaining a leading position in packaging innovation.

  

• Perelel’s Series A funding: a game changer for women’s reproductive health

  Perelel, a Los Angeles-based pre and postnatal vitamin company, has raised $6 million in Series A funding, led by Unilever Ventures and others. The company, launched in 2020, offers tailored vitamins for women’s reproductive stages, doubling its revenue year-on-year. With a community and medical support network, Perelel is set to develop new products and invest in research, aiming to be a trusted authority in women’s health.