Ahold Delhaize, Tesco, Woolworths Group, Empire Company Ltd. (the parent company to Sobeys Inc.), and ShopRite Groups have partnered to establish a collaborative venture capital fund, W23 Global.
The fund will seek to invest in innovative start-ups and scale-ups that deploy technology to enhance customer experiences, transform the grocery value chain and address the sector’s sustainability challenges, according to a news release. Each retailer is an equal funder and partner in W23 Global, while each grocery company’s CEOs will sit on the investment committee.
“As pioneers in retail innovation for more than 150 years, Ahold Delhaize has consistently led the way in investing in the customer value proposition,” Ahold Delhaize CEO Frans Muller said in the release. “We look forward to enhancing our efforts by partnering with other industry leaders and maximizing our collective impact. Together with best-in-class start-ups and scale-ups, we strongly believe we can further drive retail innovation, foster sustainability, and deliver greater value to communities worldwide.”
W23 Global aims to complement its partners’ continuing direct innovation and investment strategies, the release said. The fund’s portfolio companies will be free to contract with any customer, whether a W23 Global partner or otherwise, on whatever terms they decide.
“W23 is a potentially game-changing international VC fund with a powerful proposition for both our investors and portfolio companies. We aim to offer our investors incomparable access to transformative innovation in grocery and sustainability worldwide,” Ingrid Maes, CEO and chief investment officer of W23 Global, said in the news release. “W23 Global will work with its investors to identify common unaddressed challenges and support entrepreneurs to develop solutions, offering faster pathways to global scale for portfolio companies.
“With leading grocery CEOs on our investment committee, founders can rapidly develop ideas based on an accelerated understanding of retailers’ needs,” Maes added.
According to the release, W23 Global will seek to invest in start-ups and scale-ups deploying technology to benefit consumers by driving faster, more personalized and connected experiences across stores and online. It also will aim to create more efficient grocery value chains to the benefit of all stakeholders — addressing grocery’s biggest sustainability challenges from farm to household, including emissions and waste reduction, packaging innovation, product traceability and transparency, healthy choices and biodiversity.
In addition to investing in early-stage businesses, W23 Global will seek out entrepreneurs to solve problems that are not currently being adequately addressed, the release said.
