The venture capital firm linked to the billionaire family behind grocery and retail giant Loblaw has launched a fund for growth-stage retail companies, its third new investment vehicle this year.
Wittington Ventures’ Consumer Growth fund is targeting scaling companies in the consumer products and services space, investing $20 to $50 million per deal, managing partner Jim Orlando told The Logic. Orlando declined to disclose how much money the fund has available to invest in total.
Talking Points
- Wittington Ventures has launched a new fund for growth-stage companies making consumer products and services
- It’s the third investment fund launched this year from the venture capital arm of the billionaire Weston family’s holding company
New York-based investor Jodi Kessler has joined the firm as a partner to lead the fund. “We’re focused on great brands across consumer products and services, especially those with proven scalability, strong customer affinity, and clear market tailwinds,” Kessler said in a LinkedIn post Wednesday.
The fund will invest in companies around the world, across categories such as food, beauty, personal care and health-care services. The firm plans to deploy the fund over the next three to four years, said Orlando, though it hasn’t made any investments yet.
Wittington Ventures is the venture capital arm of the billionaire Weston family’s holding company, Wittington Investments. The strategy for the new fund draws on Wittington Ventures’ proximity to the major retailers that the Westons control, including Loblaws, Shoppers Drug Mart and Holt Renfrew. Those companies give the investment team a vantage point on shifting consumer trends across the grocery, pharmaceutical and fashion segments of retail, Orlando said. “We felt that by pulling together a fund that focuses on consumer-oriented investing, we can leverage the knowledge base we have around trends and try to accelerate that,” he said.
It is the third new fund Wittington has launched in the past year. In January, the firm announced a $100-million fund for early-stage companies focused on health and climate innovation research. It made its first investment from that fund last year, in Toronto-based Grey Matter Neurosciences. Then in August, Wittington launched a $100-million “made-in-Canada” fund, providing equity and debt financing for domestic food suppliers as demand for local products surged amid trade tensions with the U.S.
Launching three new funds in under a year marks a fast pace in Canada’s current venture capital market. VC fundraising hit a decade-low last year, with just 18 new funds having closed in 2024. “I’m really proud to be doing this,” Orlando said, “to help close the gap of research, to help Canadian growers feed us. Now is the time to double down on Canada.”
