After a decade with Sweden-based furniture retailer Ikea, Matt Stanley has taken on a role as an investment manager in a “new venture investment unit responsible for investing in innovative companies that are building a more sustainable, connected and affordable life at home”.
Ikea already had its €60m ($71m) GreenTech corporate venture capital company making equity investments in green technology companies led by Christian Ehrenborg.
The transfer for Stanley follows renewed focus by retailers and consumer products groups on innovation, following Amazon’s acquisition of Whole Foods. In other recent moves, Milos Ribic has joined Germany-based trainers maker Adidas as a director for its corporate ventures unit. Adidas had previously explored corporate venturing under Tom Montgomery until 2011 (before his move to now lead diamond retailer De Beers’s strategic initiatives.
Picture: Matt Stanley from LinkedIn