SA-based Venture Capital firm, Newtown Partners has teamed up with logistics firm, Imperial, to launch a fund dedicated to investing in high-growth supply chain and logistics startups.
The corporate venture fund plans to make an initial investment of US$ 20 million.
Newtown Partners was founded in 2014 as the result of a Dragon’s Den deal between Vinny Lingham and Llew Claasen. It has since made investments in Bloomable, Civic, SweepSouth, and the now defunct Wala.
Co-founder and General Partner of Newtown Partners, Vinny Lingham, said, “This programme will contribute to the long-term success of the organisation by identifying and leveraging startups deploying emerging technologies and business models in key geographical and logistics service areas.”
Newtown Partners, which will serve as the fund manager, will take a hands on approach in working with startups that receive investment.
The fund will operate separate from Imperial’s day to day in order to reduce the corporate red tape. Imperial will act as a market access provider for the startups.
Imperial’s aims to be ahead of its competition by keeping tabs on the industry’s emerging technologies and business models. It’s plan is to quote, “embrace disruption in the market to safeguard the organization against future risk.”
Llew Claasen, co-founder and Managing Partner of Newtown Partners, notes, “By adopting a pragmatic approach to disruptive innovation, we are well-positioned to identify how Imperial’s business will change over the next few years, and enable them to not just weather the inevitable disruption to their industry, but to leverage this change for competitive advantage.”
Claasen adds, “We are excited to have been chosen as their partner, and see significant potential for this fund, its startups, and Imperial as we leverage our global startup experience and network to augment the considerable industry knowledge inside Imperial.”
