Italy-based packaged food producer Barilla has launched a venture capital fund and innovation hub called Blu1877 that will look to invest in innovations associated with its core business, The Spoon has reported.
Blu1877’s CEO Victoria Spadaro Grant told The Spoon the fund will initially focus on seed-level investments. It has an undisclosed amount of capital to invest in areas related to pasta, sauces and Italian-style condiments, in which Barilla specialises.
Startups participating in the hub will have access to a virtual network of advisors from the food industry, as well as a pilot manufacturing plant where they can experiment with small batch production runs of new concepts.
The facility will also be open to US and European food accelerators with which Barilla collaborates.
Blu1887 is already working with BluRhapsody, a 3D pasta printing technology developed within Barilla, and Regrained, which upcycles used grain from breweries into snack products.
Barilla had previously joined olive oil producer Monini and culinary media company Gambero Rosso to back accelerator Startupbootcamp’s Italy-based FoodTech initiative, which invested roughly $16,000 each of 10 participating startups in 2016.