VF Corp. has launched Venture Platforms, an “innovation pillar that will focus on identifying and investing in new, future-focused opportunities.” The new initiative will add a specific innovation-focused component to the existing brand portfolio strategy by identifying and investing in new, forward-looking companies and business models.
“We’re interested in ideas and approaches that meet broad-scale consumer needs, advance fast-growing technologies, and create new and innovative business models,” the company says on its website. “We’re looking for founders and entrepreneurially-minded leaders from diverse backgrounds who have the grit, creativity, and curiosity to ignite change and disrupt industries.”
The company’s existing brand portfolio pillars to date are its “Core Brands,” including Vans, The North Face and Timberland, and its ten remaining “Emerging Brands.” It recently divested many brands and acquired Supreme.
To find and support new ideas and visions, VF’s new Venture Platforms consists of the business model incubator VF Venture Foundry and a new venture capital fund called BaseLayer Ventures, which can provide “early-stage venture capital for daring entrepreneurs who aspire to reach the summit.” This is available for both internal ideas and external start-ups, the company said. BaseLayer Ventures, an “independent venture capital firm,” defines the areas in which new ideas are to be supported and built as Health + Self, Sustainability, Marketplaces and Virtual Goods + Experiences. In addition to capital, new brand developments will also benefit from the experience and network of existing VF brands.
Venture Platforms is led by a small team of existing VF employees and supported by a Venture advisory board that includes selected external venture experts as well as representatives from VF brands and functions.
Other sporting goods companies such as Adidas, Asics and Nike have made investments in innovative start-ups over the last few years.
