A venture capital investment business and studio that spun out of VF Corp. (NYSE: VFC) is hitting the ground running.
Wildwood Ventures, which spun out of VF's internal startup investing studio in May, recently launched a startup pitching competition. It also added a fourth company to its portfolio and notable entrepreneurs and executives to its advisory board.
Wildwood operates a bit differently than traditional VC firms and accelerators. The studio invests between $200,000 and $500,000 in early-stage startups and also helps them grow with product development, technology, consumer insights and marketing support. Its main focus is on consumer tech startups in the outdoor and wellness sectors.
"We wanted to jumpstart the Wildwood brand and jumpstart the effort to meet lots of founders," said Jesse Marble, co-founder and partner of Wildwood. "Usually, when you start a new venture firm, you're trying to get your name out and you're really hitting the pavement, and we decided to invest in kind of a high-powered way to get our name out there."
To bring more startups and ideas to its portfolio, Wildwood partnered with Venture Fuel, an innovation advisory consultancy, to spearhead the new pitch competition. Wildwood is now accepting ideas and pre-seed-stage companies that align with its thesis of catalyzing healthy and active lifestyles, Marble said.
Applications to participate in the virtual competition are open until Aug. 31 and will be reviewed on a rolling basis. Marble said Wildwood has no commitment to the number of startups and ideas it can accept into its portfolio.
Wildwood will host two to three pitch competitions each year.
"There are a lot of venture firms right now that are slowing down their rate of deployment given kind of the general economic and capital environment," Marble said. "And we're jumping right in."
With plans to grow its portfolio to 20 to 30 startups, Wildwood recently invested in its fourth startup, Chimani.
Portland, Maine-based Chimani is an app that helps users find national and state parks and keep track of their visits. The app also offers more than 70 travel guides.
Wildwood started with three startups in its portfolio, inherited from VF's startup investing arm. Other startups in its portfolio include Out&Back, an online marketplace for outdoor equipment and gear; Kinsa, a plus-sized athletic women's clothing brand; and Roots, an app intended to help people spend less time on their phones and more time outside.
Wildwood's six-person team consists of Marble, David Wagner, who was a VF executive for 17 years, and other executives who previously worked at Nike, Salesforce, REI and other companies. The team is mainly based in Colorado, operating on a hybrid basis, with one teammate in the Bay Area.
In addition to a team with years of experience at large companies, the studio has a strong advisory broad to which it recently added Vans' Global Brand President Kevin Bailey, Next Ventures Partner Melanie Strong and Wild Rye founder Cassie Abel.
"We're building great early momentum," Marble said. "And the folks that are continuing to join our advisory board are world-class industry talent that we believe can help grow Wildwood and our startups."
