Wasson Enterprise and Innventure Form New Joint Venture to Commercialize Innovative Technologies
New joint venture employs a strategic value creation model to repeatedly create new businesses, including those from proprietary P&G technologies
CHICAGO, April 21, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Wasson Enterprise (WE), a Chicago-based angel investment group, founded by Gregory D. Wasson, former CEO of Walgreens Boots Alliance (WBA), and Innventure, co-founded by Michael Otworth to commercialize innovative technologies, announce the creation of Innventure – a Wasson Enterprise Partnership. The new joint venture offers a unique blend of the two organizations' collective experience and expertise as they work in partnership with Fortune 50 companies to evaluate, scale, and commercialize disruptive innovative technologies with significant market potential. Its initial partner is Procter & Gamble (P&G). The venture will explore similar relationships with other multinational businesses and institutions with a goal of building new, sustainable businesses and transforming markets. Wasson will serve as the joint venture's chairman of the board; Otworth will assume its leadership as chief executive officer.
"By partnering with each other in this new joint venture," said Wasson, "our two companies are looking forward to accelerating and increasing opportunities with P&G—as well as with other multinationals—to build companies that transform markets. Our systematic value creation would minimize many of the inherent risks common in most startups. Our team has a demonstrated history of innovative entrepreneurship and expertise built on a mission to create transformational companies that can stand the test of time."
Together, the two organizations offer complementary expertise focused on systematic, repeatable value creation. According to Otworth, "Part of what makes us unique is that we have developed a highly efficient and proven commercialization model in which we can repeatedly create new companies. This allows us to not only create value, but to transform markets through these disruptive technologies." Otworth, along with John Scott, founder of XL Tech Group (XLTG), created 11 new companies over 20 years, with 10 achieving late-stage funding, including six successful IPOs.
"We welcome the formation of Innventure – a Wasson Enterprise Partnership, and the compliment it represents to P&G's research and innovation efforts," said Neil Jordan, Vice President of Corporate R&D and P&G Ventures. "Their collective experience positions them well to serve as an important strategic partner to help us scale disruptive technologies and generate shareholder value."
Background
Wasson and Otworth bring considerable and varied experience to their new venture.
Before founding WE, Wasson capped a 35-year career with Walgreens, one of the nation's largest pharmacy chains, when he was named CEO in 2009 until his retirement in 2015 as CEO of WBA. With an eye to the limitless possibilities of deploying innovative technologies to transform how people live and to build and maintain a sustainable environment, Wasson Enterprise has focused its investments on early-stage companies in three distinct sectors: clean and efficient energy innovation, innovative customer and shopping solutions, and health tech.
Otworth has significant experience in creating new technology companies and seeing them through to their launches, including developing go-to-market strategies for businesses built on technology-enabled medical products. With his experience from XL Tech Group in 1996 and Green Ocean Innovation in 2008, Otworth has specialized in business development based on disruptive technologies with Fortune 50 companies that include P&G, Kraft, Unilever, and Lilly, as well as health organizations that include Mayo Clinic and Vanderbilt Medical Center. He's been involved in start-ups now worth more than $1 billion in market value.
About Wasson Enterprise
Wasson Enterprise (WE) (www.wassonenterprise.com) is a family-based investment group founded and led by Gregory D. Wasson, former CEO of Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. WE helps entrepreneurs build sustainable businesses and creates value through angel investing and operating businesses. Wasson Enterprise Angel invests in three strategic sectors with the goal of connecting, mentoring, and assisting startups in commercializing dreams into sustainable businesses. Its investment pillars are clean and efficient energy innovation, innovative customer and shopping solutions, and health tech.
About Innventure
The Innventure team has more than 20 years of experience identifying disruptive technologies and creating successful new companies. Its proven disruptive innovation model successfully identifies emerging technologies and accelerates the path to scale and in-market success. Based on the operating model of its precursor company, XL Tech Group (XLTG), the Innventure team has a long history of identifying breakthrough technology solutions that address unmet needs that have sufficient economic impact to drive and sustain changed customer behaviors. In total, of the 11 new companies created over 20 years, 10 achieved late-stage funding, including six successful IPOs. Its primary technology sourcing partner is P&G, with the first NewCo, Pure Cycle Technologies, a potentially transformative offering in plastics recycling, launched in Q4 2015.
SOURCE Innventure
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