Cincinnati-based P&G Ventures, Procter & Gamble’s internal early-stage startup studio, has announced the latest iteration of its Innovation Challenge, an ongoing entrepreneurial-style competition that’s become a signature part of the organization’s pursuit of the company’s next billion-dollar brand.
P&G Ventures is accepting submissions for the newest challenge until May 13. Three finalists will be selected to pitch to a panel of judges July 14, and the winner will receive $10,000 and a chance to partner with P&G Ventures to continue developing their product.
P&G Ventures has opted to keep the challenge virtual, a change it made last year in light of the Covid-19 pandemic. That will allow it to attract the widest pool of applicants possible, the organization said in a release. The final pitch event will be streamed and free registration for the event can be found here.
Specifically, P&G Ventures is looking for ideas outside of P&G’s typical wheelhouse. P&G is the creator and manufacturer of consumer brands like Always, Bounty, Dawn, Pampers and Tide. Ideal submissions should contain a product that is used daily or almost daily, provides noticeable superiority, and has an ownable efficacy benefit, P&G Ventures said, in categories like enhanced sleep, non-toxic insect solutions, women's wellness, personal performance, active aging and more.
“The Innovation Challenge has become a wonderful way to showcase the ingenuity of those creating new solutions to some of the most pressing consumer problems," Leigh Radford, senior VP and founder of P&G Ventures, said in a statement.
Besides Radford, the five-member panel of judges includes:
- Mike Jensen, senior VP of research and development, P&G Ventures
- Anu Duggal, founding partner, Female Founders Fund, a seed-stage fund that invests in women
- Michael Olmstead, chief revenue officer, Plug and Play, a Silicon Valley innovation platform
- Clarence Wooten, co-founder and general partner, Revitalize Venture Studio, which helps launch startups fueled by diverse co-founding teams
P&G Ventures, which was established in 2015, wrapped its latest Innovation Challenge in January 2021. SAVRpack, a San Juan Capistrano, Calif.-based a food packaging company, took the competition’s top prize.
Past winners also include Healium, a Columbia, Mo. startup that's released a virtual reality and augmented reality app to help reduce stress; and Morari Medical, Maple Grove, Minn.-based company developing a device-based treatment for premature ejaculation.
