Avery Dennison, in partnership with Highline Beta launch the second cohort of AD Stretch, a non-dilutive global corporate pilot accelerator program
Global manufacturing leader, in partnership with Highline Beta launch the second cohort of AD Stretch, a non-dilutive corporate pilot accelerator program focused on solving complex industry problems through executing pilots with startups across the globe.
About the Program
Innovation has always been at the heart of Avery Dennison. Now, through AD Stretch, Avery Dennison is on a mission to expand innovation throughout the business, and to reach out beyond their own walls to collaborate with innovative startups on new ideas, insights and discoveries.
AD Stretch aims to harness the power of innovative thinking from around the world to help Avery Dennison solve some of their most urgent business challenges, while in parallel accelerating the growth of startups to drive win:win outcomes.
AD Stretch provides a unique opportunity for startups that focus on making CPG smarter, the future of packaging, and sustainability to collaborate and run paid pilots with Avery Dennison –a Fortune 500 multinational manufacturing company– to drive innovation that makes an impact.
“Innovation doesn’t occur in a vacuum, so it’s imperative that we invest in a process that facilitates collaboration, pool our resources and use our scale to support our industry’s entrepreneurial capabilities. AD Stretch is still in its infancy, but already we’re seeing tangible results from our first cohort and hope to see the same as we partner with innovators in EMENA and North America.
– Hassan Rmaile, Senior Vice President & General Manager, Label & Graphic Materials EMENA and Global Innovation
Challenge Areas
Avery Dennison worked with Highline Beta to develop 6 key challenges areas for AD Stretch within three main themes: making CPG smarter, packaging 2.0, and sustainability. These 6 challenge areas at a high level include:
Theme 1: Making CPG Smarter
- Engage & Inform Consumers
- Intelligent Solutions For Brands
Theme 2: Packaging 2.0
- Sustainable Label and Graphics Materials
- New Functionalities From Self-Adhesive Materials
Theme 3: Thinking Green
- Green Solutions
- Enabling Circularity
“We’ve made considerable strides across sustainability and usability over the past five years but we want to see more results in a shorter time frame. The agility of a start-up, powered by our financial resources, technical capabilities and supply chain infrastructure will enable us to innovate at a far greater pace and accelerate the commercialization of solutions to market – and crucially make an impact – far quicker. Time is of the essence now.”
-Jeroen Diderich, Senior Vice President & General Manager, Label and Graphic Materials North America.
Who Should Apply?
We are looking for startups that solve one of the above mentioned challenge areas and that can benefit from collaborating with Avery Dennison to accelerate their growth and drive innovation that can make an impact.
You should apply to AD Stretch Cohort II if you:
- Are between Seed to Series C, or if you are commercial-pilot ready
- Have a product in the market with existing customer validation and sales traction
- Have experience working with corporate clients (preferred, not required)
- Have a solution that fits within Avery Dennison’s challenge areas above
- Have a founding / management team that can dedicate themselves to executing a pilot with Avery Dennison over a 6-month period
What Will Startups Get?
Participating startups will get the opportunity to execute a funded commercial pilot with a Fortune 500 multinational manufacturer, Avery Dennison, over a condensed 6 month period. By participating in the program, startups will also establish further industry credibility and grow their customer base by collaborating with a globally recognized leader in their field.
Additionally, participating startups will receive access to world-class experts and mentors in manufacturing and operations and materials science as well as access to a global network of mentors and advisors.
Finally, startups will receive hands-on pilot planning and execution support from Highline Beta and Avery Dennison pilot champions all of which will help accelerate their growth faster than they would otherwise.
We are extremely excited about this opportunity, Avery Dennison is a global world-class leader very respected about innovation. This sustainability partnership might become life changing for us, bringing the opportunity to disseminate our ESG SaaS for multiple countries in Latin America, accelerating a sustainable solution for companies and smart cities.
– Anauyla Batista, Co-Founder & Chief Commercial Officer, Green Plat, AD Stretch, Cohort I Participant
Location & Timeline
The first cohort included 9 startups from across the globe and focused on executing pilots across Latin America and Asia Pacific. The second cohort will accept applications from across the globe with a focus on executing pilots mainly in Europe and North America, and in some cases, in other locations among Avery Dennison’s 100+ sites globally.
Applications are now open and will be accepted until Friday, February 17th at 11:59pm GMT.
There will be 2 information sessions throughout the application process including:
Interactive Info Session for Startups Looking to Scale in Europe
[Thursday, December 1, 2022 at 1:00pm CEST]
Interactive Info Session for Startups Looking to Scale in North America
[Wednesday, December 7, 2022 at 12:30pm EST]
The final selection of startups will be announced in April 2023.
Pilots will take place between May to November 2023.
How to apply?
To learn more, read the full program deck here.
To apply, click here.