Unilever has this week announced a new partnership between its global startup collaboration platform, Unilever Foundry and Dogpatch Labs, the Irish startup hub. 
 
‘The Unilever Foundry’ is a global platform for partnering with the world's best startups to accelerate innovation on a global scale. It aims to bring together Unilever, startups, and entrepreneurs to encourage innovation and create new partnerships that deliver real and meaningful business impact.
 
It is hoped this partnership will provide a clear path for Irish startups to gain access to the company’s marketing expertise, massive global scale and in some instances, investment funding. 
 
The Unilever Foundry provides a single entry-point for startups seeking to partner with Unilever, enabling the company’s global brands to experiment with and pilot new technologies more efficiently, effectively and speedily. It provides startups and entrepreneurs the opportunity to develop and work on global projects, access mentoring from marketing professionals and tap into funding through Unilever Ventures.
 
Dogpatch Labs is one of Ireland’s leading startup hubs and is home to over 45 startups and over 350 members.  Alumni include many of Ireland’s fastest growing tech companies including Intercom.
 
Speaking this week, Managing Director at Unilever Ireland, Nick Johnson‎ said, "Unilever has been prominent among industry cultivating new collaborations with startups and this new partnership with Dogpatch Labs enables us to expand on our efforts to date in Ireland. Working with Irish startups such as ‘Laundrie’ (an on-demand cleaning service app) or ‘BuyMie’ (a same-day grocery delivery) is helping us address a growing imperative to connect with consumers in more meaningful ways, to leverage data and to embed our products in new app enabled services." 

He added, "Ireland in particular is an ideal test bed and can play a unique role within the global Unilever innovation eco-system while at the same time helping shift our corporate mindset and bringing more dynamism into our company culture."

Source: www.businessworld.ie