As  the world’s leading chemical company, , BASF Group is made up of subsidiaries and joint ventures in more than 80 countries and has 115.000 employees worldwide. The coatings division of BASF is a global expert in the development, production and marketing of innovative and sustainable automotive OEM and refinish coatings, and decorative paints. BASF also specializes in  applied surface treatments for metal, plastic and glass substrates in a wide range of industries.

We are looking for a startup that can identify coat damages and scratches and create a means of calculating how damaged a vehicle is and what repairs are required.

Imagine if everyday users owners of car fleets and vehicle repair specialists at body shops could easily access  vehicle damages and calculate repair costs. The current process is often manually done and highly inefficient, although repair and maintenance have a great impact on the sustainability and lifespan of a vehicle. What if we could build a fully-automated scanning environment for car fleets or private cars, using artificial intelligence and maybe just a smartphone camera? 

Already think of us as your customer or distribution partner. For this project, we need your startup to adapt your digital technology or product to the vehicle market and BASF’s requirements. By the end of the project, we expect to have integrated a prototype that helps us outperforms the human eye in vehicle damage recognition and calculation.

The core of your solution should be image recognition technologies. We expect your solution to identify small surface damages in order to support car repairs, such as parts recoating. During the project you will need to address the following questions and requirements: 

Assisted picture taking is also of interest for this project, but not mandatory. However, native mobile apps to take photos are excluded at this stage.

Please take five minutes to quickly describe your solution. 

After the application deadline, our selection committee will invite up to five finalists to deliver their pitch at a representative BASF location. You will speak with key decision-makers during your visit, and also be compensated for your travel and lodging expenses.

We will then  choose up to three winners for a 50.000€ pilot project. Upon successful completion of the project, startups can officially list BASF as their customer or client. A decision will also be made on whether or not to enter a long-term partnership and whether to roll out  your startup’s solution regionally or even worldwide.