June 18, 2020 – BIC, a world leader in stationery, lighters, and shavers, is partnering with technology company Iprova to launch the BIC-Iprova Invention Lab to enhance BIC’s Innovation and Research & Development (R&D) capability. Using Iprova’s machine learning-based, data-driven approach to invention, the Lab will help BIC anticipate and answer rapidly changing consumer needs with unexpected inventions that will benefit consumers. BIC is the first company to build an in-house data-driven invention lab using Iprova’s technology.

The launch of the Lab follows two successful pilot projects which focused on enhancing consumer benefits in BIC’s stationery and shaver product categories. The two companies began working together in January 2019. The first priority for the lab is in the stationery category, helping to create products that allow consumers to better express themselves and make their lives simpler.

“At BIC we recognize the need to stay ahead of everchanging consumer demands. The new Invention Lab with Iprova will help us reimagine how we create products that enable consumers to better express themselves and make their lives simpler,” said Thomas Brette, Group Insights and Innovation Officer at BIC. “Iprova has demonstrated that their technology will enhance BIC’s approach to inventing products that solve the needs of our consumers. That’s why we decided to bring their technology in-house, strengthening BIC’s R&D capability and creating a stream of disruptive and diverse inventions.”

Iprova’s technology brings digital transformation to one of the most essential aspects of R&D, invention. The technology constantly monitors market, social and technological advances around the globe, identifying new inventive information in a way that augments and enhances the human ability to create valuable inventions. BIC will then use these inventions to speed up and enhance its existing product development pipeline. 

“It is a privilege to partner with BIC, a company that continues to make products with a creative elegance and user value which is rarely matched,” said Julian Nolan, CEO at Iprova. “We look forward to further integrating Iprova’s transformative technology into the new invention lab and helping to strengthen BIC’s innovation process.”

This partnership is the latest step BIC has taken to continue modernizing its R&D process. Earlier this year, BIC launched The Next BIC Thing, a platform that integrates the consumers into the heart of its innovation strategy, helping BIC to better understand how they use our products so we can invent new ones that are perfectly adapted to their needs.

ABOUT BIC

BIC is a world leader in stationery, lighters and shavers. For more than 75 years, the Company has honored the tradition of providing high-quality, affordable products to consumers everywhere. Through this unwavering dedication, BIC has become one of the most recognized brands and is a trademark registered worldwide. Today, BIC products are sold in more than 160 countries around the world and feature iconic brands such as Cello®, Conté®, BIC FlexTM, Lucky Stationery, Made For YOUTM, Soleil®, Tipp-Ex®, Wite-Out® and more. In 2019, BIC Net Sales were 1,949.4 million euros. The Company is listed on “Euronext Paris,” is part of the SBF120 and CAC Mid 60 indexes and is recognized for its commitment to sustainable development and education. It received an A- Leadership score from CDP. For more, visit www.bicworld.com or follow us on LinkedIn, Instagram, Twitter, or YouTube.

ABOUT IPROVA

Iprova is a fast-growing technology company with offices in Lausanne (Switzerland), London and Cambridge (UK). We create data-driven inventions for our clients, representing some of the world’s best-known technology companies across North America, Europe and Japan. Our approach uses machine learning, natural language processing and proprietary technologies to augment and enhance the human ability to invent. By tracking real-time market, social and technology advances to assess whether they have an inventive consequence in areas of interest to its customers, Iprova enables companies to invent new products and services with increased speed, agility and disruptiveness. All 10 of the world’s largest technology companies reference granted patents based on Iprova’s inventions. For more information, visit www.iprova.com or follow us on LinkedIn and Twitter.