Singapore’s pioneering startup community partnered with the world’s #1 consumer goods company and put out an open innovation challenge to disrupt a 4 billion USD industry.

Doing laundry has mostly remained the same for years; sort, choose cleaning product to use, add the right amount of cleaning product, dry. Tedious as it may be, it is a process that works whether done by hand or by using machines.

Can’t get any better than that, right?

Impact Hub Singapore, working with manufacturing giant Procter & Gamble, is out to prove that wrong by organising a Pitch Day to seek out new technology to reinvent the laundry experience.

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There had been very little technological innovation in how people do laundry over the past 30 years. In Japan and China, specifically, several pain points have been determined, including the long time it takes sorting laundry, overdosing detergents, consumers’ increasing need for new benefits like germs removal and color preservation, and the penchant for wanting to replicate the feel of outdoor drying even when drying indoors, among others. The Pitch Day is inviting participants to come up with solutions for these pain points with the key markets being, but not limited to, Japan and China.

Any interested groups from anywhere in Asia can join simply by submitting their idea and a quick background on their team online. Finalists will be chosen among all submissions and would be given the chance to develop their idea and build the solutions for the Pitch Day.

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The finalists will explore how integration with technology can help eliminate or solve pain points of the laundry process with the mentorship and technical (hardware and software) support of Microsoft, ST Microelectronics, Gemsense, and other tech partners. Finalists will get the chance to develop their mobile app, smart device, or other technology solution, and pitch their idea and prototype to a panel consisting of leaders from P&G Asia Fabric Care and top venture capitalists.

The winner of the Pitch Day gets access to P&G insights and mentors, a SGD 25,000 prize money, possibly pilot their product, and potentially form a long-term partnership with P&G.

Pitch Day is open to professionals and students from all over Asia who can send in their applications on or before the 16th of December 2016 through this link.

For more details on Pitch Day, visit the Pitch Day Disrupt the Laundry Experience page.

Disclosure: This article was produced by the e27 content marketing team, sponsored by Impact Hub.

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