Marine Materials could be algae, bacteria, fungi, seagrass or by-products from the fish industry.
About 50 per cent of the total IKEA value chain climate footprint comes from materials used in products and food. IKEA has committed to becoming circular and climate positive. Becoming climate positive means reducing more greenhouse gas emissions than the full IKEA value chain emits while growing the IKEA business. There is a constant search for innovative solutions to reduce the climate footprint, and now IKEA is looking for start-ups working with marine materials.
Raffaele Giovinazzi, Project Leader Innovation Ventures at IKEA:
“We believe that IKEA can play an important role in the marine value chain by making by-products more valuable and reduce waste. Since the industry is still young, the scale of IKEA could contribute to competitiveness, speed up development and ideas, and help to move towards a zero-waste approach.
At IKEA, we are generally good at capturing opportunities, but all new materials we consider need to be able to scale. We use big volumes throughout our range in everything from food and comfort applications to textile solutions and packaging. So, we need to explore both wild and cultivated marine materials.”
The selected ventures will:
Apply to IKEA Marine Materials Innovation Program by 18 May 2022 (Terms & Conditions).
01. … are innovating in the area of marine materials
02. … have a proven business model
03. … are a legally registered business
04. … speak fluent English