Swyft’s retail technology platform aligns with FEMSA’s corporate venture fund’s investment strategy
Swyft, Inc., a global leader in the robotic and software-powered marketplace, providing secure unattended delivery for brands, merchants and last-mile providers, announced a seven-digit strategic investment from FEMSA’s (Fomento Económico Mexicano, S.A.B. de C.V.corporate venture fund. The strategic partnership between Swyft, the Silicon Valley based software and robotics leader, and FEMSA, the largest convenience store operator and food and beverage distributor in Latin America, is expected to facilitate future scale deployment of Swyft’s software and robotics technology.
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“The Swyft platform is scalable, intuitive and efficiently services customers’ needs.”
“We’ve found many synergies where Swyft’s technology fits with our strategic goals to engage in complex markets with superior commercial tools,” said Javier Garcia, FEMSA’s Director of Corporate Venturing & Growth Capital. “The Swyft platform is scalable, intuitive and efficiently services customers’ needs. Autonomous, touchless Grab and Go solutions are the future of our industry and we’re pleased that one of our companies is already manufacturing equipment for Swyft.”
Swyft is the 15th strategic investment made since FEMSA formed its strategic corporate venture group in 2018. FEMSA operates several strategic businesses deploying industry-leading capabilities and cost-effective strategies. FEMSA Ventures portfolio includes companies operating in a variety of industries such as conversational commerce, last-mile logistics, e-commerce, retail and fintech.
“FEMSA’s corporate goals closely align with our strategy plans,” said Swyft CEO Gower Smith. “We’re already leveraging FEMSA’s high quality and large-scale manufacturing capabilities to launch our cost-effective Grab & Go solutions into the US market. These disruptive systems are like Amazon Go in a box and have wide scale application in retail and vending. We hope to earn the privilege to deploy our technology in FEMSA’s retail and food and beverage businesses and we couldn’t hope for a stronger partner to guide us as we expand into Latin America.”
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As the largest bottler of Coca-Cola products by volume, the second-largest shareholder of leading brewer Heineken, and investor in commercial refrigeration company Imbera, FEMSA is a leading backer in the food and beverage industry. The company also touches the retail industry through FEMSA Comercio, a Proximity Division which operates OXXO, the largest and fastest-growing chain of small-format stores in Latin America. FEMSA Comercio serves 13.2 million customers daily and operates nearly 20,000 stores in the USA, Mexico, Chile, Columbia and Peru.
FEMSA’s investment comes on the heels of several partnerships between top retail brands and Swyft. Swyft operates branded interactive kiosks in airports for brands like Benefit Cosmetics, robotic retail stores for companies like CVS, as well as a network of interactive kiosks for consumer electronics formerly branded by Best Buy.
Swyft’s business was recently impacted when consumer traffic in airports and malls fell dramatically in March of 2019, but the technology leader accelerated development of its patented contactless shopping technology as an effort to meet the shifting consumer demands following COVID 19. The company has emerged as a disruptive alternative to brands and online retailers wanting a physical channel integrated with their online assets, but without the cost of traditional stores. Consumers prefer the frictionless experience of Swyft technology, allowing them to eliminate lines and salespeople while shopping, traveling, working, or on campus.
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