We use our Network to perform other services besides Open Innovation, therefore we can propose very attractive prices.
Contact us for a private discussion on required investment.

Yes, we propose discounts to companies having a certain recurring volume of RFPs. Starting at 5 per year, you can buy attractive packages.
Contact us for more details.

SpecialChem invoices you at the beginning of the process, after you have signed a service order form. There are no other fees involved.

SpecialChem guarantees a minimum of 10 proposals forwarded to you. In the case this minimum is not reached, despite the support and validation from our Open Innovation Experts, SpecialChem will reimburse you.
Contact us for more details.

Here is how a normal RFP submission runs:
From the RFP initial submission to SpecialChem up to the green-light by our expert, you can count on 2 weeks.
Then 4 weeks of publication to our Network, on our websites.
Then 2 weeks to sort-out the best responses and reply to the respondents.

Even though it is difficult to name a %, our Clients are actively following roughly 30% to 40% of the proposals they receive.

To frame a good RFP, SpecialChem recommends to involve a technical and a sales/marketing professional. A week of discussion should provide good results.

This question really depends on your starting point and what your aims are. But most OI professionals use one / some of the following metrics:
- By measuring the time and resources saved
- By measuring the time-to-market acceleration
- By measuring the knowledge accumulation through the RFP process

We strongly advise you not to unveil any confidential information when filling in the Request For Proposal template, so no IP can be stolen.
When contacting a Solver or Partner, you will most probably sign a Non-Disclosure Agreement(NDA) to protect both parties, including your IP rights.

There is no intellectual property transfer during the use of the SpecialChem Open Innovation Services; neither between Client and SpecialChem, nor between Client and respondents submitting Proposals.
If you are interested in Proposals you received, you need to contact the Solver or Partner and define together the business relationship you are ready to consider.

When looking for Solvers:

• Looking for a new raw material (eg. Bio-based material, intelligent materials, a material having specific functionalities, specific catalysts...)
• Looking for a process (eg. Questions relating to surface modification, coloration, adhesion...)
• Looking for measurement techniques (eg. how to measure traces of product x in production?)
• Looking for solution to a technical problem (eg: How to reduce VOC in a specific formulation? How to pass this specification under these special conditions?)
• Looking for synthesis routes (eg a new route to produce x; a route to produce Y in less steps;...)

When looking for Partners:

• A company able to market your products / technology in a specific market
• A company able to distribute your products
• A company able to co-develop your technology in a specific application that you do not know
• A company able to finance your innovation
• A company able to value the R&D works you have stopped

Our Clients very often choose to remain anonymous to avoid telling too much about their strategy. We have also observed that it increases the success rate of their RFP. Our Client will disclose their identity to Solvers and Partners with whom they choose to initiate a business relationship.