Fusion Partnership Lab

🌟 Diageo Fusion Demo Day 🌟 What an amazing inaugural Fusion Partnership Lab Demo Day at Diageo 1HQ: packed room (with our CMO, Cristina Diezhandino and the Marketing Leadership Team in the front row and dialed in), 8 incredible growth stage companies presenting exciting breakthrough concepts to shape the future of social celebration, an exceptional introductory panel of founders and corporate innovators - just wow! 😍 Our Chief Innovation Officer, Mark Sandys kicked things off followed by a panel moderated by Rob Chapman from our Fusion delivery partners Founders Intelligence with Adam Levene, Carol Hilsum, Navid Hadzaad (Zapp), and Siobhan Linard FRSA sharing brilliant insights on how to build enduring corporate partnerships. 🤝 Our cohort of 8, who made it through to Phase II of the Fusion Partnership Lab flew in from as far as Australia and California to showcase their innovative concepts and pitch for potential pilots with Diageo. We couldn’t be more excited about the opportunities that lie ahead! 🚀 Look out for an announcement in the coming weeks about the pilots that will emerge from the programme and the companies who successfully made it to the post-programme phase! #demoday #innovation #partnerships #startups Startups: Brandon Barbello (Archetype AI) | Jodie Mlikota (Gathar) | Kevin Brown (Innit) | Tal Lotan, Dan Skrek (NINA) | Neha Singh (Obsess) | Lin Dai, Christopher Sealey (Superlogic) | Eoin Bara (Tipple) | Nick Sokolich (UneeQ) Guy Middleton | Benjamin Lickfett | Miguel Olarte | Will Harvey | Ezra Konvitz | Dhruv Sarin | Nikita Shimkus | Ellie Walford

Introducing Johnnie Walker x Scott Naismith, a brand-new experience at Johnnie Walker Princes Street that allows guests to co-design a personalised bottle of Johnnie Walker Blue Label with the Scottish artist. The limited-edition experience, which is only available for visitors to the Edinburgh venue from August 1-31, 2024, is powered by ‘Project Halo’, a Diageo Breakthrough Innovation that uses Generative AI to help consumers co-create designs on Diageo products in a way that is bespoke to them. Find out more about the collaboration and Diageo’s latest Breakthrough Innovation: https://lnkd.in/e_MbsA24   #whisky #scotch #breakthrough #innovation #generativeai

Final Count Down ⌛ With just a day to go until our final 8 participants fly to Diageo 1HQ to pitch their concepts, we wanted to say a HUGE thank you to everyone at Diageo that has helped the companies over the 13 week programme. From hours of coaching to countless introductions, the support has been immense. We cannot wait to see the output of this collaborative effort tomorrow! ✨

Excited to see Fusion Pioneer Jimmy Klein and the Diageo FlavorPrint Lab team continuing to transform how consumers discover personalised cocktail recommendations 🍸! Erin Duff Nicolas Owen Miguel Olarte #Innovation #DrinksInnovation

From spatial computing to artificial intelligence, Diageo’s Breakthrough Innovation team is utilising the latest technologies to give today’s consumer new ways to experience our brands. In the latest feature of our 'Distilled Series', we dive into the three themes, or ‘Hunting Grounds’, that are guiding the Breakthrough Innovation team to entertain an increasingly 'digital-first' consumer. Explore here - https://lnkd.in/eTsRS-GF Drink responsibly. DRINKiQ.com #breakthrough #innovation

Big shout out to Superlogic on their recent $7.6M round. We are thrilled to be a part of your journey, via the Fusion Partnership Lab, and cannot wait to see how you use the funds to fuel the future of loyalty! 🎁 Lin Dai Jared Christopherson Sumit B. Benjamin Lickfett Nicole Tan Ee Von T. Nikita Shimkus

Participant Reflections 💭 As we approach the final weeks of programming, we thought we would share a few of the participant’s reflections on the journey so far. Check out their answers below 👇🏻 Neha Singh Obsess Yair Marom NINA Lin Dai Superlogic Dhruv Sarin Nikita Shimkus Ellie Walford

🤝🏻 Top Tips for Corporates Partnering with Startups 🤝🏻 As part of our training for Fusion Pioneers, we've hosted two founders to share their views on best practice for corporates looking to pilot and partner with startups. 🔗Jackson Bond brought an outside-in perspective, sharing insights from his experience working with corporates, like Munich Re whilst at relayr, and mentoring startups over the years 🥃 Oli Fuchs, former CEO of Vivanda, offered a more Diageo-specific lens, having gone the full journey from pilot to acquisition 👇🏻👇🏻👇🏻 Have a scroll for their top tips👇🏻👇🏻👇🏻 Anything you would add to the list? Comment below! Miranda Essex Ezra Konvitz Dhruv Sarin Nikita Shimkus

As we near the halfway point of Phase II, we wanted to celebrate a wonderful new addition to our Pioneer community, Nicole Tan! Having spent a decade in brand and innovation strategy, including as an early-hire in two fashion eCommerce startups, Nicole is currently Head of Luxury and Digital in Diageo Europe. 🍸 Her wealth of experience, blending cultural-curiosity, creative-thinking and commercial acumen, is the perfect pairing for Superlogic. Safe to say they're hatching something exciting... ⚡ Want to know Nicole’s take on how tech is shaping luxury! Have a scroll 👇 Lin Dai Joshua James Jared Christopherson Sumit B. Nikita Shimkus Dhruv Sarin Ellie Walford

Massive shout out to Brandon Barbello and the Archetype AI team for closing a $13M seed round! Proud to have you as part of our inaugural cohort. 🌟