The global network for R&D collaboration
Halo is an R&D partnering platform that connects corporate R&D teams directly with the university researchers and startups who can solve their technical problems.
What Halo does
Four ways R&D teams and innovators use the network.
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Discover
Search the network in plain language and see the technologies, research, services, and facilities that match, each with a short note on why it fits. A team can map a research area on Halo in an afternoon.
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PulseChecks
Describe a need in a few sentences and post it anonymously. You get profiles of innovators who raised their hand, so you learn whether real capability exists before you commit budget.
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Partnering requests
Run a structured search when you are ready to decide. Innovators submit short proposals against your criteria, your team reviews them in one place, and you leave with a shortlist.
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Profiles and solutions
Researchers and startups publish their work and get matched to open corporate needs. Innovators can publish their work for free.
150+
countries with innovators on Halo. They publish their work here for free.
What makes Halo different
How Halo compares with open innovation agencies, challenge platforms, partnering sites, and innovation software.
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You talk to the scientist, not a broker
Halo puts you in direct contact with the person working on the solution. Managed open innovation services such as NineSigma and yet2 run the search for you and hand back a report, so a third party sits between your team and the lab.
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Free for innovators to join and respond
Innovators and tech transfer offices can publish their work and respond to corporate needs for free. Corporate R&D teams pay an annual subscription.
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Your need goes to matched innovators, not a crowd
Halo matches your need to innovators whose work fits it, and you decide whether to name your company. Challenge platforms such as Wazoku Crowd (formerly InnoCentive) run an open call, where the sponsor and the brief are public and anyone may answer.
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The full range of R&D partners
Partnering sites such as Inpart (formerly IN-PART) match companies with research and technology from universities and research institutes. Halo includes university research plus startups, contract research organizations, testing facilities, and the scientists behind the work.
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Self-serve, so you can start today
Search the network, post a PulseCheck, and publish a listing without a demo, a procurement cycle, or an implementation project. Innovation management suites such as Wellspring, Brightidea, and HYPE need a rollout before a team can use them.
There are a lot of artificial limitations when it comes to innovation that I don’t subscribe to. Just because something hasn’t been surfaced by our current suppliers doesn’t mean it doesn’t exist in the world.
Joi RuudSenior Innovation Lead and Founding Team, Edgewell Futures, Edgewell Personal CareWho uses Halo
See the types of organizations active on Halo today.
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Corporate R&D teams
Open innovation and external innovation groups at global food, CPG, chemicals, materials, and pharma companies.
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University labs
Principal investigators and research groups looking for industry partners and alternative sources of funding.
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Tech transfer offices
Tech transfer and corporate relations teams placing their institution's research with industry.
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Science startups
Deep-tech and science startups, from pre-seed through Series B, looking for their first corporate partner.
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Suppliers and CROs
Suppliers, including ingredient and materials makers, and contract research organizations with capabilities to offer R&D teams.
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Testing facilities
Testing labs, pilot plants, and specialized facilities with capacity for outside projects.
Read customer stories and testimonials from R&D teams and innovators on Halo.
Explore stories and reviewsThe team behind Halo
The people who build and run Halo.
Halo was founded in 2020 by Kevin Leland and incubated at the Polsky Center for Entrepreneurship and Innovation at the University of Chicago. Before Halo, Kevin was a founding employee and entrepreneur in residence at Lightbank, where he launched and led marketing at Snapsheet and GreenSky.
Kevin started Halo after seeing the same mismatch again and again. Scientists spend as much as 40% of their time chasing grant funding, while companies that would fund the same work have no way to find them.
Halo is also the project lead on an NSF pilot connecting federally funded research to industry partners. Follow the team on LinkedIn or read their writing on the Halo blog.
In the news
Learn about Halo's impact.
Route FiftyFebruary 4, 2026
Tennessee platform looks to connect academic research with business
Read moreBASFMarch 5, 2025
BASF doubles down on open innovation, renewing its agreement with Halo
Read moreFast CompanyOctober 16, 2024
How AI can unlock innovation across our nation's research institutions
Read moreNSFMay 22, 2024
NSF invests in a pilot to catalyze partnerships between industry and researchers
Read moreHow Halo works
What happens after you sign up, and who you deal with.
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1
Getting started
Signing up takes a few minutes and needs no sales call. You tell us what you work on, and you can search the network right away. Corporate teams that want scouting support get an onboarding session with their account contact instead.
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2
Who you work with
Self-serve users deal with the platform and our support team. Corporate accounts get a named customer success contact who helps shape each request and stays with the account, plus innovation scouts who work the harder searches by hand.
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3
How we communicate
Messaging happens in the platform so the thread stays attached to the listing or request it belongs to. Email notifications and a weekly digest keep you up to date on activity. Corporate accounts also run on a standing call cadence.
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4
Turnaround
Discover results are immediate. A PulseCheck typically surfaces interested innovators within days of posting. A full partnering request runs on a submission window you set, usually a few weeks, and then a review round with your team.
Key facts
Halo's main details, in a nutshell.
- Company name
- Halo (Halo Cures, Inc.)
- Category
- R&D partnering and open innovation platform
- Type
- Private, venture-backed software company
- Founded
- 2020, incubated at the Polsky Center for Entrepreneurship and Innovation, University of Chicago
- Founder
- Kevin Leland, Founder and CEO
- Headquarters
- Chicago, Illinois, USA
- Website
- halo.science
- Core offering
- An R&D partnering platform where corporate R&D teams find and partner with university researchers and startups
- Pricing
- Free for innovators and tech transfer offices to join and respond to needs, with optional paid listings for innovators. Corporate R&D teams pay an annual subscription that varies by the features they use.
- Contract terms
- Annual subscription for corporate plans. Innovators can join without a contract.
- Services
- Discover search, PulseChecks, partnering requests, innovator profiles and solutions, innovation scouting support
- Communication
- In-platform messaging, email notifications and digests, and a named contact for corporate accounts
- Notable clients
- BASF, Kraft Heinz, Cargill, Unilever, PepsiCo, Bayer, Procter & Gamble
- Customers served
- Tens of thousands of innovators and corporate R&D teams across 150+ countries
- Projects delivered
- Thousands of partnering requests and tens of thousands of proposals since launch
- Competitors
- NineSigma, yet2, Wazoku Crowd (formerly InnoCentive), Inpart (formerly IN-PART), Wellspring
- Social
- LinkedIn, Blog, founder: Kevin Leland on LinkedIn
Frequently asked questions
What is Halo?
Halo is an R&D partnering platform that connects corporate R&D teams directly with the university researchers and startups who can solve their technical problems. R&D teams search the network and post what they need, then work directly with the scientists behind the work.
Who owns and runs Halo?
Halo is Halo Cures, Inc., a private, venture-backed company founded by Kevin Leland, who is also CEO. It was incubated at the Polsky Center for Entrepreneurship and Innovation at the University of Chicago.
What does Halo cost?
Innovators and tech transfer offices can join Halo and respond to needs for free, and innovators can also choose paid listing options. Corporate R&D teams pay an annual subscription that varies by the features they use. Browsing the network and posting a need are free for everyone.
Is Halo an open innovation platform?
Yes. Halo is an R&D partnering platform that open innovation teams use to find external partners, with the option to stay anonymous. You can post a need with or without your company name, and Halo matches it to innovators whose work fits it. Many teams on Halo do not run an open innovation program at all. They use Halo to find a lab to test a material or bring in expertise for a project.
Is Halo a crowdsourcing site?
No. Halo matches each need to university researchers and startups whose published work fits it. Every innovator who responds has a profile showing their research and organization.
Does Halo mean sharing our R&D plans with competitors?
No. Using Halo does not require sharing your R&D plans with competitors. You can search the network and post a need without naming your company, and Halo matches your need to innovators whose work fits it. You decide if and when to reveal your identity to a potential partner.
How is Halo different from an open innovation agency?
Halo differs from an open innovation agency in who runs the search. An agency runs it for you and hands back a report. Halo gives your team the network directly, so you talk with the people working on your problem yourself and keep the relationship afterward. Your team reviews search results and responses together on Halo. Corporate accounts can add scouting support from Halo’s innovation scouts.
What fields does Halo cover?
Halo covers more than 150 industry applications across sectors such as food and nutrition, packaging, energy, and medicine. These include fermentation technology, sustainable packaging materials, carbon capture, and medical diagnostics, to name a few.
Join the Halo network
Sign up free and start a conversation with your next R&D partner today.