Diageo Technology Ventures (DTV) will partner with companies worldwide to develop and pilot technology solutions on the basis of focused business briefs.
Successful applicants will work with Diageo to develop their ideas and the multinational will commit $100,000 to support each pilot project.
The first project has a brief to seek out ‘technologies and platforms’ to help consumers drink responsibly; the second brief will support retailers and distributors in countering retail theft.
For instance, the theft brief notes that the practice costs US retailers millions of dollars in lost sales, and calls for new technologies and digital partners to combat shoplifting, employee theft and organized crime in the supply chain.
Diageo will issue a number of briefs during the project’s first year, via startup funding platform FGS (see screenshot) and will fund multiple pilots – applicants will pitch ideas to a senior executive team.
Diageo seeks 'disruptive innovation'
Syl Saller (pictured above) Diageo’s chief marketing officer, said DTV would give the company access to a world market to solve some of its biggest business challenges.
“Tech start-ups and entrepreneurs are truly defining disruptive innovation, driven by an irrepressible appetite to experiment and a willingness to take risks,” she said.
“This program…underlines our fundamental belief that through partnerships with forward-thinking start-ups and entrepreneurs we will deliver competitive advantage for our business," Saller said.