Carrefour, Europe’s largest food retailer, is joining forces with venture capital firm daphni to invest in digital retail startups as part of a global plan to step up e-commerce expansion over the next four years, it said on Monday.
Their new venture capital fund, Dastore, will initially invest € 80 million ($88 million) by taking minority stakes in high-potential emerging startups in France and globally to allow Carrefour “to stay close to innovations and emerging technologies”, the statement said.
Last November Carrefour pledged to spend € 3 billion between 2022 and 2026 to step up digital expansion, one of the pillars of the group’s strategy to stay ahead of Amazon on grocery deliveries and accelerate its continuing turnaround.
A dedicated team will be set up for Dastore, made up of experts from both daphni and Carrefour. In addition to Dastore’s financial investment, Carrefour will be able to provide the startups with business acceleration, operational support as well as easier access to clients, international markets, and data insights that they can use to help them grow.
READ ALSO: Brazilian retail behemoth Magalu launches its own ‘social network’
The investment thesis will be focused on business areas related to Carrefour’s digital strategy priorities: new e-commerce businesses, data, and digital tools for operations and financial services in retail as well as logistics and supply chain new capabilities.
