Retail giant John Lewis has launched its third annual hunt for promising young retail technology companies – with investment, mentoring and free office space on offer for successful applicants. Applications are accepted until 8th May 2016.
The JLAB accelerator is recruiting companies across four categories: health & wellbeing, simplify my life, effortless shopping and tech for kids.
“Under mentorship from John Lewis, JLAB startups will have a unique opportunity to hone their ideas and create a product which has a genuinely positive impact on our customers,” said John Lewis IT director Paul Coby.
“We’ve seen from previous years the value of combining an agile startup mentality with John Lewis’ extensive industry knowledge, and I’m personally looking forward to working with the 2016 applicants,” he added.
The retailer is one of a swathe of big corporates which have recently rushed to put cash, expertise or office space up for grabs for promising young UK firms. Over ten per cent of UK accelerators are now backed by large corporations.
