Kraft Heinz Launches $100M Venture Capital Fund, Aims To Be Sector's 'Foremost Value-Added Investor'

Kraft Heinz Co (NASDAQ: KHC) has announced the launch of a $100-million venture capital fund, Evolv Ventures.

Kraft Heinz, the fifth-largest food and beverage company in the world, said the fund will invest in emerging tech companies that are transforming the food industry.

The company has brought in venture investor Bill Pescatello, formerly of the Chicago venture fund Lightbank, to lead the fund.

“At Evolv Ventures, we will move beyond brands to have a committed first look at our industry’s most promising and disruptive tech-enabled companies,” Pescatello said in a statement. 

“With the insights, data and access available at Kraft Heinz, we look to take full advantage of our unique position and be the foremost value-added investor in the space.”

Kraft Heinz said Chicago-based Evolv Ventures will accelerate the company’s exposure to emerging technologies and businesses and better leverage its position in the industry.

“New technological innovations in the food industry create endless new opportunities to strengthen business models,” CEO Bernardo Hees said in a statement. “Through Evolv Ventures, we will work with tomorrow’s most innovative founders and companies in the space and use the full resources of Kraft Heinz to help them succeed.”

Kraft Heinz shares were up 2.35 percent at $57.20 at the time of publication Monday. 

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