Unilever’s ambitions for the hackathon range from reducing the environmental footprint of a daily shower, through to tackling the waste from sachets sold in developing and emerging countries such as India.
The hack will run as part of the event on 21-22 October and participating startups will have the opportunity to work with the data sources of Unilever.
Company marketing, sustainability, IT and consumer research experts will be on-hand during the conference to provide one-on-one mentorship and advice for startups during the event.
Winners may be invited to participate in a paid pilot with Unilever, where $50,000 will be made available to help develop and test their idea. One winner will also win £5,000 ($8,000) in prize money.
Marc Mathieu, SVP global marketing commented: “Startups are pioneering the future and offer new, innovative ways to connect with consumers. In a data-driven world, we need a network of partners who can help to source, distil and share this data with people in a way that enables them to make small behaviour changes that results in a more sustainable future.“
Separately, as part of Unilever’s sponsorship of ad:tech London, marketing and media tech startups will pitch to a panel of brand, agency and Venture Capital decision makers for the chance to be crowned ‘The Next Big Thing’.