John Lewis invests in three tech startups

Written by Chris Lemmon

25/10/2016

Following the completion of its third JLAB accelerator programme, John Lewis has selected three retail technology startups to invest a sum of £100,000. John Lewis’s JLAB innovation partner, L Marks, will also match the investment, bringing the total startup funding to £200,000.

DigitalBridge will receive £100,000 investment – the firm has designed a product which allows customers to visualise home furnishings using computer vision and machine learning technology.

Wedding Planner will receive £50,000 investment – the firm helps brides and grooms to-be plan their wedding from their phone and online, combining technology, industry expertise and creativity.

Link Big will also receive £50,000 investment – Link Big is a tool that turns Instagram to a social checkout by allowing customers to buy products seamlessly from their Instagram feed.

The three startups fought off competition from 280 applications and successfully navigated the pitch and demo days in front of a senior judging panel. The John Lewis Buying teams will continue working with the two other startups on JLAB 2016, Ding Labs and Robotical, with a view of helping to bring their products to market.

Paul Coby, chief investment officer at John Lewis Partnership, said: “The three startups we have invested in have the potential and the technology to really excite John Lewis shoppers. This has been JLAB’s most successful year so far, because everyone involved, us included, have seen it as an opportunity to learning process.”