InnoCentive’s Challenge Driven Innovation Yields 74% ROI

InnoCentive is now part of Wazoku

WALTHAM, Mass. – October 28, 2009 – InnoCentive, Inc., the world leader in open innovation, today announced that global consumer goods company SCA has achieved a Return on Investment (ROI) of 74 percent with payback in less than three months as a result of posting innovation Challenges to the InnoCentive Global Marketplace. These findings are recognized in a new commissioned study conducted by Forrester Consulting on behalf of InnoCentive that examines the total economic impact (TEI) and potential ROI that enterprises may realize from partnering with InnoCentive. Forrester’s study proved that using InnoCentive’s diverse network of experts results in a faster research process at a lower cost than using either internal resources or employing outside consultants to find solutions.

With 2008 annual sales of more than $15 billion and 52,000 employees in 60 countries, SCA was challenged to find an effective way to expand its R&D capabilities. In 2006, the company looked to InnoCentive to improve their innovation capabilities. A spokesperson from the company estimates that for large Challenges, the internal effort of exploring and replicating the results achieved through InnoCentive would have required the company to employ three scientists working over a five-month span. Based on an industrial average annual compensation of $118,000 per scientist, using InnoCentive saved SCA more than $1.5 million over three years.

Forrester’s findings determined significant additional benefits gained from posting Challenges to the InnoCentive network. These benefits include the ability to foster a more innovative culture within the organization, improve aptitude for framing research challenges, and achieve a smoother IP transfer process.

“The global economic crisis is forcing organizations to redesign their innovation systems to remain competitive,” said InnoCentive CEO Dwayne Spradlin. “This study confirms that open innovation and the InnoCentive platform drive innovation better, faster, and more cost effectively than ever before possible.”

The complete Forrester Consulting study, titled “The Total Economic Impact of InnoCentive Challenges,” is available to download at no cost. To get a full understanding of the costs, risks, payback and business value of investing in open innovation with InnoCentive, or to learn more about InnoCentive and how to become a Seeker and post InnoCentive Challenges, visit www.innocentive.com.

About InnoCentive, Inc.

Since 2001, InnoCentive has helped corporate, government, and non-profit organizations to better innovate through crowdsourcing, strategic consulting services and internal Software-as-a-Service offerings.  The company built the first global Web community for open innovation where organizations or “Seekers” submit complex problems or “Challenges” for resolution to a “Solver” community of more than 180,000 engineers, scientists, inventors, business professionals, and research organizations in more than 175 countries. Prizes for winning solutions are financial awards up to US $1,000,000.  Committed to unleashing diverse thinking, InnoCentive continues to introduce new products and services exemplifying a new corporate model where return to investors and individual passion go hand in hand with solving mankind’s most pressing problems. https://www.innocentive.com/

For more information contact:

Graham Buchanan
InnoCentive Marketing Director
press@innocentive.com