SIG partners with Plug and Play to find start-ups in the F&B industry
The collaboration with Silicon Valley-based Plug and Play will enable SIG to explore new and exciting opportunities, as it connects with Plug and Play’s industry-specific accelerator programs.
Rapidly changing world
SIG is also inviting its employees to come forward with innovations. It set up a Venture Capital Board in 2018 for staff to promote their entrepreneurial ideas independently.
Markus Boehm, CMO, SIG, said start-ups are increasingly driving industry innovation and value creation, and it is keen to identify and work with them to foster successful partnerships.
“We must continually innovate in this fast-paced and rapidly changing world, delivering differentiated products to consumers. To achieve this, we believe in fostering entrepreneurial culture and look forward to working closely with forward thinking start-up companies to identify tomorrow’s trends,” he said.
P&P is an early stage investor and corporate innovation platform. As an investor, it has access to a variety of start-ups, mainly through its location in Silicon Valley and personal relationships to other Venture Capital firms.
If P&P finds a start-up valuable, it looks to invest into them. It is interested in collaborating with corporations, such as SIG, because it can give them valuable clues as to which start-ups might end up the most successful.
Private network
“Plug and Play‘s network of start-ups is private and will be shared with SIG according to our needs. Once a start-up has been identified, we will be notified and start an exchange to understand the value proposition/technology and interact with them,“ added Boehm.
“We trust Plug and Play‘s position in Silicon Valley, its wide-reaching network, subject matter expertise, and investment track record, which will enable us to find exactly what we are looking for.”
Saeed Amidi, CEO/founder, P&P added its cooperation with SIG opens up opportunities to everyone globally and will drive exciting future food and beverage developments and partnerships.
Former examples of where SIG has partnered with start-up companies prior to P&P include; nutpods, an independent, natural foods manufacturer in Seattle, introducing dairy-free products from plant-based ingredients.
SIG partnered with them in 2018 to re-release its Seasonal Edition Pumpkin Spice creamer in its SIGNATURE aseptic carton packs made with polymers linked to plant-based renewable materials.
Yasmin Siddiqi, marketing head, SIG North America, said at the time: “In nutpods, we found a collaborator who shares our vision in creating a sustainable future.”
It also partnered with B-Better this month, a water start-up brand from Unilever’s Future Platform, to launch a range of water beverages in SIG’s combidome carton bottle.
B-Better is the first company to use combidome with SIGNATURE packaging material and aluminium foil certified to Aluminium Stewardship Initiative (ASI) standard.
