Compagnie de Saint Gobain : Saint-Gobain supports the start-up Ecovative Design

Saint-Gobain officially backed the application of the start-up Ecovative Design, which applied to the US department of Energy to obtain a grant to conduct tests on new materials for windows.

In 2015, Ecovative Design was one of the two start-ups to have won the innovation competition organized every three years by NOVA External Venturing, the Saint-Gobain department dedicated to searching for and concluding strategic partnerships with start-ups all over the world. On this occasion, Ecovative presented a very innovative project consisting in transforming organic and agricultural products into bio-composed materials used for packaging and insulation (watch the video for more details).

The competition prize enabled Ecovative to develop its product, and the partnership with Saint-Gobain has continued ever since. It is in line with this partnership that, last January, the Group backed the start-up's application to the US department of Energy, considering the Ecovative product to be an innovative solution with the potential to enhance the performance of future windows.

This support is a perfect illustration of NOVA's involvement and more broadly of Saint-Gobain with start-ups with whom they enter into partnerships. For Minas Apelian, Director of NOVA External Venturing, 'this kind of support really reflects on the synergetic relationship we build with the start-ups; work together, help them to bring forward their ideas and find ways we can both advance our interests'.