US-listed retailer Amazon has hired Sherwin Prior to head its Amazon $1bn Industrial Innovation Fund launched at the end of last month to accelerate innovation in the supply chain and warehouses.
Prior, a GCV Rising Stars award winner, has more than a decade’s corporate venturing experience. Initially at car maker General Motors’ GM Ventures before leaving for a portfolio of work at Lear, Orbia and Blue Victor.
Amazon also tapped Anna Davydova to be portfolio manager for the fund after two years at the firm in its robotics division and previously nearly a decade as an equity analyst and manager at Fidelity.
Announced last month, the Amazon Industrial Innovation Fund will focus on companies developing innovations that can increase delivery speeds in online shopping and improve the experience of employees working in warehouses and logistics.
In 2020, Amazon launched a $2bn climate fund to invest in startups creating sustainable and decarbonising technologies.
Amazon’s cloud services wing, Amazon Web Services (AWS), has also launched a $30m accelerator for those underrepresented in the startup space, such as black, women, Latino and LGBTQI+ founders.
Amazon had previously formed a vehicle called Alexa Fund in 2015 to invest in artificial intelligence-based technologies capable of strengthening voice-based smart assistant Alexa.
