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Open innovation: the key to agile, sustainable solutions
After a successful one-year pilot, BASF is doubling down on open innovation, renewing its agreement with Halo, an online platform that connects colleagues with the external innovation community, helping uncover solutions to various challenges being faced in the development of new advancements.
In a world where new challenges often emerge, finding quick ways to ideate, develop and put forward solutions is becoming essential for every industry. By breaking down the barriers that stand between collaborators it’s possible to accelerate the pace of innovation, reaching breakthroughs more quickly through collective effort.
With this in mind, in 2023, BASF signed a one-year pilot in North America with Halo, an external open-access innovation marketplace that enables companies to post challenges to an ecosystem of potential partners, including researchers and startups. The different partners can then send proposals over for the company to evaluate and select the best to explore together.
Recently, after a successful first year and 15 challenges posted, BASF decided to double down on this partnership, renewing it for two additional years. This new agreement highlights the importance of open innovation in bringing to market products that address customers' needs while also strengthening the bonds between company experts, researchers, and key partners across the region.
“I was impressed by the high quality of proposals in the Halo platform for the two challenges run by my team (AJ Wu, Piran Cargeeg). We tried different crowdsourcing platforms in the past but were underwhelmed by the high number of low-quality proposals. With Halo, we have been impressed by the ease of connecting with on-target contributing experts, making it an efficient, seamless and focused research opportunity discovery experience,” says Joerg Bauer, Director Global Seed Treatment R&D.
Closing the gap between internal and external talent
Through Halo, BASF experts can find solutions to different challenges they are facing while also collaborating with other players in the ecosystem. Under the renewed partnership, representatives from any of BASF’s business units can post challenges in the platform for up to two months. BASF campaign owners provide only basic information, answer questions about the challenge, and either request specific proposals to solve the issue at hand, or request a consultation with specific experts to craft a solution.
Currently, most of BASF’s challenges are divided into specific topics, including sustainable consumer products, climate-friendly processes, circular economy, mobility of the future and sustainable food supply.
In 2023, the company posted 15 challenges, generating over 400 proposals from more than 100 universities and start-ups. Several of these challenges have focused on agricultural solutions.
One of the campaigns posted in 2023 was from Anna Michrowska-Pianowska, Team Leader in External Synthesis & Compound Acquisition for BASF Global Research and Development, Agricultural Solutions in Germany, who was looking for novel compounds for screening to support the development of new crop protection products. According to the expert, “Before Halo, we had problems getting samples from universities in the United States. This has changed now. From my perspective, this campaign was successful.” She received close to 50 proposals from several different sources, and to keep the momentum going, Michrowska-Pinaowska posted a second related challenge.
This campaign received an overwhelming response from various countries worldwide, particularly from North America, in the form of compound libraries. This level of engagement in Halo was unprecedented compared to other channels.
A global hub of experts
Halo has proven to be a valuable tool for BASF experts to connect with partners and find solutions and collaboration opportunities across North America. The year-long pilot showed promising results and the potential to find not only regional but global connections. For this reason, BASF is in the process of expanding its use of Halo to other regions, including Europe, Asia and South America.
“I am impressed by the tremendous engagement our experts at BASF have experienced on the Halo platform,” said Benjamin Knudsen, Vice President of Research North America, BASF Corporation. “Leveraging digital tools for collaboration is essential for us to innovate more rapidly and meet our customers’ needs more efficiently. The proposals our teams receive through these collaboration opportunities exemplify the shared commitment of our scientists and external partners to developing solutions for a more sustainable future.”
Published on March 5, 2025, by Mariana Licio.
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