Uponor Innovations Now Accepting Applications for Game-changing Ideas for 2015

For entrepreneurs, business owners or investors that have great ideas but lack the resources to get those ideas off the ground, Uponor North America (Uponor) offers Uponor Innovations LLC.

Launched in September 2013, Uponor Innovations LLC is a wholly owned subsidiary and corporate enterprise designed to identify emerging markets and create new, game-changing products. Anyone from entrepreneurs to startups, business owners, management teams, investors and funds can submit an executive summary for an idea that improves the way people design and construct the human environments where we live, work and play.

“We are looking for products and innovations that align with our sustainability goals and our vision of enriching people’s way of life,” says Bill Gray, president, Uponor North America. “We believe companies play an important role in leading sustainability initiatives by producing products and services that make it convenient, affordable and effective to do the right things for the environment.”

The Uponor Innovations LLC infrastructure includes staff, funding, manufacturing, marketing, sales, technical support and a national distribution network. Uponor Innovations is not an investment portfolio enterprise, but rather its approach is to pursue involvement through existing Uponor assets and resources.

In August 2014, Uponor purchased a minority position in Upstream Technologies, a New Brighton, Minn.-based company that helps to develop stormwater management products in conjunction with the University of Minnesota. The partnership signified an outstanding example of the great efforts that can come from submitting an idea to Uponor Innovations.

Uponor, Inc. is an award-winning provider of plumbing, fire safety, radiant heating/cooling, hydronic piping and pre-insulated piping systems for residential and commercial applications. In 2014, the company received a Best-in-Class award for Minnesota manufacturing, a Community Impact Award for sustainability, and a Progress Minnesota award for driving business growth and economic development. The company was also named a Top 100 Workplace by the Minneapolis Star Tribune. Uponor, Inc. employs more than 500 people at its North American headquarters in Apple Valley, Minn.