Specialty materials provider Arkema, Colombes Cedex, France, has launched Start-up Connect, a program that invites start-ups specializing in advanced materials from around the world to join forces with Arkema to establish a privileged research collaboration and benefit from the group’s support and technological experience. By providing technical or financial support for these innovations, Start-up Connect will be a strategic component of Arkema’s development within an ecosystem of responsible innovation.

The Start-up Connect initiative will combine the dynamism of small, agile and innovative organizations with Arkema’s unique expertise in specialty materials to develop the innovations of tomorrow. Arkema will provide these start-ups with its international reach, its in-depth knowledge of markets and applications, and its ability to develop safe and high-performance chemistry. The group will offer access to the scientific and technical resources of its 15 R&D centers in France, the US and Asia, facilitating the pooling of expertise, innovation and economic development at the heart of these areas. The strategic partnerships defined within Start-up Connect may range from technical collaboration to financial support, expertise or mentoring.

Arkema has chosen to devote the majority of its innovation partnerships to sustainable growth. To achieve this, the innovations that are selected must be linked to Arkema’s innovation platforms: natural resource management, lightweight materials and design, new energies, electronics solutions, and home efficiency and insulation.

For more information, visit www.arkema.com.