Specialty chemicals company Evonik has launched its new Innovation Factory, a research and development unit designed to accelerate the journey from scientific breakthroughs to industrial applications. With a focus on connecting internal expertise with external partnerships, the Innovation Factory aims to deliver solutions that address pressing market needs, including advancements in agricultural technologies.

The Innovation Factory replaces Evonik’s previous research unit, Creavis, and operates with a clear mandate: to transform cutting-edge research into practical, market-ready solutions within an average timeframe of five years. This agile approach is expected to significantly shorten the time it takes for new technologies to reach customers.

One of the key areas of focus for the Innovation Factory is combinatorial innovation, which involves integrating Evonik’s internal expertise with insights from academia, startups, and industry partners. This collaborative approach is designed to create resilient solutions that deliver immediate value to industries, including agriculture.

Among its many business operations, Evonik develops microbial biostimulants and biosurfactants to enhance biocontrol.

“The Innovation Factory operates according to a clear principle: ‘Building what’s next.’ To achieve this, Evonik will integrate its own expertise even more closely with external impulses from academia, startup ecosystems, and industry partners. This results in technically and commercially more resilient solutions that deliver immediate industrial value and meet real market demands,” said Axel Kobus, head of the Evonik Innovation Factory.

In terms of content, the Innovation Factory focuses on areas where Evonik already has established strengths and where customers need new solutions. One example is rhamnolipids: these effective and environmentally friendly biosurfactants are already used in cosmetic and cleaning products and offer many additional applications.

Evonik is also advancing biopolymers that can replace fossil raw materials and developing anion exchange membranes (AEM) for the green hydrogen economy.

The Innovation Factory is part of Evonik’s global research strategy, with hubs in Boston, Singapore, and Shanghai.