Saint-Gobain announces NOVA Innovation Competition 2012

Saint-Gobain has officially launched its fourth global Innovation Competition. Organized by its NOVA External Venturing team, an international team of Saint-Gobain representatives that identify and evaluate start-up companies for strategic partnerships with all Saint-Gobain businesses, the competition will award a first place winner with $50,000 and second- and third-place winners with $25,000 and $10,000, respectively. Winners will also work with NOVA to explore a variety of working partnerships with Saint-Gobain such as licensing, manufacturing or commercial agreements, equity investment or joint ventures, according to a release.

Start-up companies can submit entries that demonstrate the quality of their value propositions and potential synergies with Saint-Gobain through June 2012. The NOVA External Venturing team will then select 8-12 finalists to present their innovations to a panel of judges in a 5- to 10-minute "speed-dating" session held live at the 2012 Greenbuild International Conference and Expo in San Francisco, November 15. The panel of judges will consist of senior Saint-Gobain executives and experts in the building, energy and environmental sustainability industries. To learn more about the NOVA Innovation Competition and to obtain the Innovation Competition’s official rules and registration form, visit www.saint-gobain.com/innovationcompetition2012