Amazon Industrial Innovation Fund will invest in logistics technology developers while the corporate's AWS Impact Accelerator is targeting founders from underrepresented backgrounds.

US-headquartered e-commerce and cloud services group Amazon announced $1bn investment vehicle yesterday that will back customer fulfilment, logistics and supply chain technology developers. The move came the day after the corporate’s cloud services subsidiary, Amazon Web Services (AWS), launched an accelerator with over $30m in capital that will concentrate on founders from underrepresented communities. Amazon Industrial Innovation Fund will invest at early and late stage, targeting technologies capable of improving the speed and efficiency of product delivery. Robotics, artificial intelligence, machine learning and autonomous systems are among its areas of interest. Alex Ceballos Encarnacion, vice-president of worldwide corporate development for Amazon, said: “We see an opportunity to look beyond our own experience and empower companies that are developing emerging technologies in customer fulfilment operations, logistics and the supply chain. “We know there are companies out there that share our curiosity and excitement to invent. Whether our investment helps them grow or leads them to work with Amazon, or both, we are excited to help advance these technologies as online shopping becomes even more important to people who are looking for more convenience and time savings.” The fund has also disclosed its first five portfolio companies. They include US-headquartered bipedal robot developer Agility Robotics, which had raised over $28m as of late 2020, and Vimaan, the US-based provider of an intelligent inventory management system. Israel-headquartered warehouse robotics system provider BionicHive and US-based tactile robotic arm developer Mantis Robotics filled out the list with Modjoul, the US-based creator of a wearable safety promotion system. AWS Impact Accelerator will provide $125,000 in cash and up to $100,000 in AWS credits for pre-seed companies as well as mentoring, training and technical guidance, over an eight-week period. It is open to companies with women, black, Latino and LGTQIA+ founders. The $30m allocation is intended to be committed over the next three years and has opened applications to US-based black founders for a programme starting in June this year. The inaugural AWS Impact Accelerator for Women Founders will begin in the second half of 2022, with AWS Impact Accelerators for LGBTQIA+ founders and Latino founders slated to take place next year. AWS chief executive Adam Selipsky said: “When we launched in 2006, AWS changed the game for startups by giving them access to the same technology as the world’s largest enterprises. “Today, we continue to level the playing field so that founders can pursue their ideas and grow successful businesses regardless of gender, sexual orientation, ethnicity…

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Robert Lavine

Robert Lavine is special features editor for Global Venturing.