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Tesco has become one of five leading global grocery retailers to establish a “pioneering” collaborative grocery venture fund, W23 Global.
The new VC fund will seek to invest $125m (£99m) over five years into innovative start-ups and scale-ups with the potential to transform grocery retail and address the sector’s sustainability challenges.
Each retailer is an equal funder and partner in W23 Global, while their CEOs will sit on the investment committee. Tesco will contribute $25m (£20m) over five years.
W23 Global brings together other global grocery leaders, including Ahold Delhaize (US, Europe, Indonesia), Woolworths Group (Australia, New Zealand), Empire Company Limited/Sobeys Inc. (Canada) and Shoprite (Africa).
W23 Global CEO and chief investment officer Ingrid Maes said: “W23 Global is a pioneering international VC fund with a uniquely powerful proposition for both our investors and portfolio companies. At a time when innovation is reshaping retail and value chains across the economy, we aim to offer our investors incomparable access to transformative innovation in grocery and sustainability across the globe.
“W23 Global will also work with its investors to identify common unaddressed challenges and identify entrepreneurs best placed to innovate new solutions. Our ambition is to offer our portfolio companies faster pathways to global scale, without being exposed to a venture fund anchored by a single strategic investor.”
She added: “With five of the world’s leading grocery CEOs sitting on our investment committee and access to our broader ecosystem, our founders can test and develop their ideas quickly based on an accelerated understanding of retailers’ needs.”
Tesco Group CEO, Ken Murphy said: “We are excited to be collaborating with four other leading grocery retailers in this new investment fund. We are passionate about seeking out the best retail innovations and finding ways to make everything we do sustainable, and this partnership allows us to do that on a truly global scale.”
