Olivier Garel, vice-president of mergers and acquisitions, replaced Martin Grieve as head of fast-moving consumer goods company Unilever’s corporate venturing and private equity unit in 2013.
Garel, a long-term Unilever executive, took over after Unilever committed a further $450m to its corporate venturing unit’s third fund to help it expand from Europe into Asia and North America.
Late last year, the Anglo-Dutch conglomerate brought its Unilever Foundry program to the US.
The initiative aimed to give startups access to the conglomerate’s various brands in order to pilot new products and services, receive mentoring from marketing staff and apply for funding from corporate venturing unit Unilever Ventures.
Unilever Foundry was already active in the UK, Singapore and India, where a total of 75 startups have partnered subsidiaries such as deodorant maker Axe, ice cream producer Magnum, and condiments and soup brand Knorr. The selected startups will participate in the foundry for three months.
At the time, Garel said: “Through Unilever Foundry, we hope to make more startups aware of this opportunity to receive investment from the world’s second-largest advertiser.
“In combining our business and marketing knowledge with the expertise available in venture capital through Unilever Foundry, we are in a position to provide the best of both worlds.”
Unilever Ventures has also been expanding its remit in other ways for its 14-strong team. In March last year, Unilever agreed to acquire UK-based Ren Skincare for an undisclosed amount to be run by Unilever Ventures, with Rachel Harris as interim CEO. It now has 21 similar direct holdings and 12 indirect portfolio companies.
More traditionally, last month UK-based advertising technology developer Blis raised $25m in a series B round that included Unilever Ventures. The team has also made seven exits, including PharmaKodex, BAC and CyDen, over the past decade.
Garel was a student at Université Paris Dauphine and Université Paris Nord.