Retail Sector’s Embrace of Open Innovation Powers Growth of dunnhumby ventures’ Network
dunnhumby ventures’ Retail Innovation Network Accelerates Growth Amid Rising Demand for Open Innovation
dunnhumby ventures, the strategic venture capital and open innovation arm of dunnhumby, has announced the return of its Retail Innovation Forum Americas event, scheduled for September 18, 2025, in Bentonville, Arkansas. This event aims to facilitate strategic connections among senior decision-makers within one of the largest open innovation ecosystems in retail. (Business Wire)
Retail Innovation Network: A Global Collaborative Platform
Launched in 2024, the Innovation Network has rapidly expanded, hosting oversubscribed events in Bentonville and London. These gatherings have brought together representatives from over 300 organizations across more than 30 countries, resulting in over 1,000 connections among members. (Business Wire)
The Network serves as a platform for early-stage startups, established technology partners, and CPG innovation teams, and venture investors to collaborate, share best practices, and accelerate innovation in the and consumer goods ecosystem. (dunnhumby)
Addressing Industry Challenges Through Open Innovation
Leo Nagdas, Head of Corporate Development and Ventures at dunnhumby, highlighted the challenges organizations face in keeping up with rapidly evolving external technology, data, and AI vendor landscapes. He emphasized the need for an open innovation mindset to overcome decades of siloed thinking in the industry. (Business Wire)
Retail Innovation Week: A Convergence of Industry Leaders
In conjunction with the Innovation Forum, dunnhumby ventures and its partners will host the inaugural Innovation Week from September 15-18, 2025, in Bentonville. This first-of-its-kind event aims to gather over 1,000 seniorinnovation leaders from pioneering startups, enterprise technology partners, investment firms, academia, retailers, and brands. (Business Wire)
Forum Highlights and Opportunities
The Innovation Forum is expected to attract over 200 seniorand CPG technology leaders. Attendees will participate in innovation showcases, panel discussions, and curated networking opportunities. Panel discussions will focus on understanding evolving customer needs, engaging consumers with relevance and authenticity, optimizing critical decisions with data and AI, and innovating with the ecosystem. (Business Wire)
The invite-only event offers complimentary access and provides an opportunity to interact with dunnhumby’s executives, including President of the Americas, Matt O’Grady, and Founder and Chief of the Innovation Network, Leo Nagdas. Participants can also engage with strategic innovation leaders from market-leading technology providers, retailers, CPG innovation leaders, and investors.
Exclusive Insights for Network Members
Insights and takeaways from the Innovation Forum will be shared exclusively with Innovation Network members through a new innovation white paper series in the coming months. (Business Wire)
Joining the Retail Innovation Network
Global innovation leaders are encouraged to apply for complimentary membership to the Retail Innovation Network via the submission link at www.dunnhumby.com/ventures. (Business Wire)
About dunnhumby ventures
dunnhumby ventures is dunnhumby’s strategic venture capital and ecosystem-led innovation arm, with a mandate to partner and invest in early-stage retail technology startups that embrace data and artificial intelligence for innovation along the customer’s path to purchase. The firm fosters industry collaboration via the Innovation Network, an exclusive ecosystem of senior innovation leaders, and seeks to align with partners at an early stage to supercharge their ability to take innovation to market by tapping into dunnhumby’s retail industry expertise, pioneering data science assets, and global retailer and supplier partner network.
About dunnhumby
dunnhumby is the global leader in Customer Data Science, empowering businesses to compete and thrive in the modern data-driven economy. With a mission to enable businesses to grow and reimagine themselves by becoming advocates and champions for their customers, dunnhumby leverages a unique mix of technology, software, and consulting to deliver exceptional customer experiences across various industries. The company employs over 2,500 experts in offices throughout Europe, Asia, Africa, and the Americas, serving transformative, iconic brands such as Tesco, Coca-Cola, Meijer, Procter & Gamble, and Raley’s.
For more information about the Retail Innovation Week, visit https://www.dunnhumby.com/retail-innovation-week/.
