Introducing the $1 billion Amazon Industrial Innovation Fund
Amazon is creating a $1 billion venture investment program called the Amazon Industrial Innovation Fund (AIIF) to spur and support innovation in customer fulfillment, logistics, and the supply chain. As customers increasingly shop online and look for even faster delivery, Amazon continues to invent new ways to raise the bar on customer and employee experience while working with other companies focused on those fields.
Amazon has invested and innovated substantially over the last two decades in next-generation technology in its operations. This new fund is one of the ways Amazon continues to invest, along with many other initiatives, such as the MARS and re:MARS conferences that Amazon hosts every year. The conferences bring together innovative minds in machine learning, automation, robotics, and space to share new ideas across these rapidly advancing domains.
“We see an opportunity to look beyond our own experience and empower companies that are developing emerging technologies in customer fulfillment operations, logistics, and the supply chain,” said Alex Ceballos Encarnacion, Amazon’s vice president of worldwide corporate development. “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’re 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 Amazon Industrial Innovation Fund will invest in companies that imagine solutions that incrementally increase delivery speed and further improve the experience of employees working in warehousing and logistics fields.
“These industries are inherently complex,” said Ceballos. “With our scale, Amazon is committed to investing in companies that will ignite innovation in emerging technologies that can help improve employee experiences and safety while seamlessly coexisting with workforces across the supply chain, logistics, and other industries.”