Join Voith’s global innovation platform and help solve the most critical challenges in electrification, water, and resource efficiency.
Why contribute?
Join forces with Voith to turn your ideas into real industrial impact and unlock unique opportunities for collaboration and growth:
- Work on real industrial challenges with global impact
- Collaborate with Voith experts across industries
- Turn ideas into real R&D and product development projects
- Gain visibility within a global technology leader
- Potential funding for pilot projects
- Access to Voith test environments, data, and industrial assets
- Joint development and co-creation with Voith experts
- Opportunity to build reference projects and access global markets through Voith
Current innovation challenges
How it worksFrom idea to impact
01 — Submit your Idea
Share your idea, technology, solution or business model through our submission platform. We welcome contributions from start-ups, companies, universities, and private individuals across all innovation fields relevant to Voith. You do not need a fully developed concept. A clear Description, Targets & Vision for your project is sufficient.
02 — Evaluation by Voith Experts
After submission, your idea is reviewed by a dedicated Voith expert team. Within 2 weeks, we will contact you with initial feedback.
Ideas are evaluated based on:
- innovation potential
- customer relevance
- strategic fit with Voith’s focus areas
Be as specific as possible when you describe your idea and the relevance for Voith (i.e., potential application areas). It will improve your chances that Voith sees the potential and will want to work with you.
If we see potential and both sides decide to deepen the discussions, we will work together with you to further refine the idea and apply it to Voith needs. You will receive dedicated coaching to prepare the pitch session in the Voith Innovation Council.
03 — Decision by Innovation Council
Selected ideas are presented to the Voith Innovation Council, a cross-functional group of senior leaders and experts.You will get the chance to personally pitch your idea.
The Innovation Council evaluates the strategic relevance, scalability, and overall business potential of the idea and decides on next steps.
04 — Development into Real Products
If your idea is selected, we start a close collaboration.
This includes:
- access to our global Voith expert network
- conducting joint workshops
- developing minimum viable solutions or proof of concepts
What we are looking for
We believe that the best innovations emerge when bold ideas meet strong partnerships and real industrial challenges. On our Crowd R&D platform, we welcome a broad range of ideas – from visionary concepts to concrete solutions – that can lead to new technologies, products, services, or business models, as long as they have the potential to create real impact in industrial technology.
Power of Innovation
We are looking for ideas that challenge the status quo and open up new ways of thinking.
Whether it’s a radical concept, a disruptive technology, or an unconventional approach – we value creativity, curiosity, and the courage to think beyond existing solutions. Early-stage ideas are just as welcome as more mature concepts, as long as they show a convincing innovation potential and relevance for our businesses.
Think outside the box! Bold, visionary, and sometimes even “crazy” ideas are explicitly encouraged.
Digitalization, Sustainability & Efficiency
Voith’s core activities are driven by a strong commitment to digital transformation, sustainability, and operational excellence. We are therefore especially interested in ideas that:
- improve resource and energy efficiency,
- enable smarter, data-driven products, services, processes and business models,
- contribute to decarbonization, circularity, or more sustainable industrial value chains,
- create measurable value for customers and markets.
Your idea should demonstrate how technology can make industry more efficient, more sustainable, and future-ready – across Paper, Hydro, Turbo, and Industrial & Technology Services
Partnership & Co-Creation
Crowd R&D is not just about ideas – it’s about collaboration.
We actively engage with start-ups, technology providers, researchers, universities, industry experts, and innovation partners who are interested in working together with Voith in an open, transparent, and trust-based way. Collaboration can range from joint exploration and prototyping to pilot projects, co-development, or long-term partnerships.
We value:
- openness to collaboration and knowledge sharing,
- willingness to engage in joint workshops and iterative development,
- a shared ambition to bring ideas from concept to industrial application.
Together, we aim to turn promising ideas into scalable solutions with real industrial impact..