Kraft Heinz invests $100m to launch new venture capital fund

Kraft Heinz has invested $100 million to establish Evolv Ventures, a venture fund that will invest in emerging tech companies that are “transforming the food industry.”

Evolv Ventures will be based in Chicago, and Kraft Heinz says that the new fund will “accelerate the company’s exposure to emerging technologies and businesses, and better leverage its position in the industry.”

Venture investor Bill Pescatello has been chosen to lead the fund, and he brings over a decade of venture investing experience to the new unit.

Pescatello most recently served as a partner at Lightbank, a Chicago-based venture capital fund and was also a founding member of GE Capital and NBCUniversal’s Peacock Equity Fund.

Bernardo Hees, CEO at Kraft Heinz said: “New technological innovations in the food industry create endless new opportunities to strengthen business models.

“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.”

Pescatello added: “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.

“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.”