Birmingham, Alabama-based Shipt is launching an accelerator program with a goal of supporting small local retailers in the grocery, health and wellness, and gifts and floral realms.
It will kick off in spring 2023, according to a LinkedIn post from Brittney Smith, senior manager of social impact and community engagement at Shipt.
The program will provide capital, e-commerce-focused technical assistance and education from industry leaders for local store owners. Applications will open in early 2023 for stores located in Birmingham, Detroit, Houston and the Washington, D.C., area.
"I am privileged to work with an incredibly talented team of professionals to bring this program to life and serve small business owners," Smith said in the post.
The program was originally announced in September as part of Shipt's participation in the White House Conference on Hunger, Nutrition, and Health, where Shipt CEO Kamau Witherspoon spoke on a panel.
In the September announcement, the White House said, "Shipt will prioritize businesses owned by people of color and LGBTQI+ people with a goal of assisting at least 10 local retailers in its first year and 30 in its first three years, all of which will receive a $5,000 stipend."
In other news, the delivery service is facing two lawsuits by attorneys general in District of Columbia and Minnesota against Shipt for allegedly denying full-time workers employment rights. Shipt maintains that its workers are independent contractors.
In December 2017, Minnesota-based Target Corp. (NYSE: T) agreed to buy Shipt in a $550 million deal. Shipt is a wholly owned Target subsidiary and operates independently.
