Defining the Future of Retail Technology

Our Mission

To identify, invest in, and support the next generation of companies that will lead innovation in retail technology.

About Us

Industry Focused Venture Fund

With an exclusive focus on retail, restaurants, and next-generation commerce technologies, we initiate investments into a pre-configured portfolio that includes indications of pre-money valuations and types of securities. The principals of the Fund are proven experts in their field and have done the hard work to assemble a group of private, growing, and sector-leading companies that will represent the changing landscape of retail technology.

Our Approach

We are redefining the venture model of the past. By taking an investor centric approach with a focus on retail technology, our unique business model allows our investments to be placed into a known, pre-configured portfolio.

The Process

We believe our format is the future of private venture investing; a model designed for attentive portfolio assembly alongside sector experts, with no focus on "empire" building. Instead, we have directed our efforts to portfolio construction and companies led by exceptional entrepreneurs with strong advisory boards and post product-market fitness.

By combining industry experience and knowledge, we work hands-on with our advisors to identify:

  • The most important trends
  • The emerging private companies that will be next-generation leaders in retail technology
  • The most thoughtful and dynamic entrepreneurs

Investment Strategy

We build relationships for future investment

The portfolio and strategy of our retail technology fund stands out and entrepreneurs in this sector want us on their capitalization table. We have gathered a winning team that can be aggressive on terms and structure, including taking control of positions for added value.

Our leading industry connections allow us to elevate and enhance scaling portfolio companies within our sector
Our focus on investment return and fast liquidity lets entrepreneurs and legacy boards know that we can add value without dictating a "one size fits all" exit
We identify the next generation of market leaders through our unique access and industry visbility
We invest in dynamic entrepreneurs building "on theme" companies

Key Themes in Retail

For decades retail did not view technology as critical to winning markets... this has changed.

  • Next-Generation Analytics
    Extreme personalization
    Context targeted marketing
  • Automation of Retail
    No-friction commerce at the edge
    Alternate checkout
    New store formats
  • Payments
    Employee financial wellness
    Frictionless payments

Industry-Focused Team

Operations, Innovation, and Venture Capital

The Composite team consists of highly recognized venture professionals, retail industry executives known for their innovative successes, as well as a group of highly incentivized advisors from industry leading retailers. We are able to intelligently fathom market leaders in our focus sector, gain access to those investments, and help our portfolio companies with our deep industry network.

Jim Armstrong

Managing Director

25+ Year Venture Capitalist; Board Member and Advisor

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Brandon Levine

Managing Director

Former Head of Innovation, Payments, and Financial Services at Dollar General

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Mike Marsh

Managing Director

10+ Year Venture Investor, M&A and Capital Markets; Board Member and Advisor

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Karan Chaudhary

Managing Director

10+ Year Venture Investor, Executive and M&A; Board Member and Advisor

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Strategic Advisors

Recognized Leaders in the Field

Neil Golden

Board Member at RBI; Former SVP, CMO at McDonalds
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Jason Reiser

Former EVP, CMO at Dollar General; Former COO at Vitamin Shoppe; Former VP at Walmart
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Don Kingsborough

Founder and CEO of Blackhawk Network; Former VP of PayPal; Former President of Westfield
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Matthew Schweickert

Former Chief Strategy Officer at Home Depot; Former SVP at Experian
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Amit Jain

Founder and CEO of Bridg; Founder of Savings.com
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Tom Fisher

Former CTO at Ebay; Former CIO at Oracle; Former CIO at SAP
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Kat Cole

President & COO of Athletic Greens; Former President and COO at Focus Brands
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Andy Murray

Former SVP/Chief Customer Officer Walmart Asda U.K.; Former SVP/Marketing Walmart U.S.
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Jerry Storch

CEO of Storch Advisors; Former CEO of HBC and Toys"R"Us; Vice Chairman of Target
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Marisa Thalberg

Former EVP/CMO at Lowe's;Former Global Chief Brand Officer at Taco Bell
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Glenn Lucas

Venture Advisor and Investor
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Composite News

August 2022
Panera Bread tests artificial intelligence technology in drive-thru lanes

Starting Monday, drive-thru customers at two Panera Bread locations in upstate New York will have their orders taken by a computer in a test of artificial intelligence...

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August 2022
Tom Brady-Backed Hero Bread in Talks to Raise Convertible Note

Hero Bread, which makes low-carbohydrate loaves, tortillas and buns, is in talks to raise a convertible note...

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August 2022
GrubMarket Acquires IOT Pay to Enter Financial Services Sector for the American Food Supply Chain Industry

GrubMarket today announced it has completed the acquisition of Vancouver, Canada-based IOT Pay, a leading fintech company that provides omnichannel payment services...

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August 2022
Uber will start showing its drivers how much money they will earn for each trip

Uber announced that it will soon start showing its drivers how much money they can earn on each trip...

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April 2022
OpenCity's Conversational Voice AI "Tori™" Forever Changes the Drive-Thru Experience

OpenCity, the leading voice AI ordering platform for restaurants, announced today that a Popeyes Franchisee...

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February 2022
Datasembly Collects One Trillion Product Observations; Market Volatility Drives Demand and Leads to Increase in Collection Frequency

Datasembly, the leading provider of real-time, hyper-local product pricing, promotions, and assortment data for retailers and CPG brands, has officially collected over one trillion product observations...

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January 2022
Placer.ai Raises $100M Series C At A $1B Valuation To Accelerate Growth and Product Development

Placer.ai, the leader in location analytics and foot traffic data, announced today the closing of a $100M Series C funding round at a $1B valuation...

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November 2021
GrubMarket raises $200m in Series E funding round, eyes IPO

GrubMarket, a San Francisco-based food supply chain e-commerce company, has raised $200m in a Series E funding round, bringing its total valuation to over $1.2bn...

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August 2021
Branch raises $48M from Lee Fixel's Addition, Indeed to provide accelerated payments to workers

Branch, which has built a flexible workforce payments platform, announced today it has raised $48 million in Series B funding and closed on a $500 million credit facility...

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August 2021
Drive-thru voice AI startup to double its team with $6.8M

OpenCity, a Boston startup that provides an AI-powered voice assistant for drive-thru ordering, is raising new funds to double the size of its current team...

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May 2021
Cardlytics Completes Acquisition of Bridg

Cardlytics (NASDAQ: CDLX), one of the largest digital advertising platforms, announced today the completion of its acquisition of Bridg, a customer data platform...

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April 2021
Placer.ai Raises $50M Series B

Placer.ai, a leader in location analytics and foot traffic data, announced on Tuesday the close of a $50 million series B funding round...

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March 2021
Market Performance Group Taps Jason Reiser for New Role

Market Performance Group (MPG) has named Jason Reiser, former chief merchandising officer of Dollar General...

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January 2021
Branch Launches Employer Payments Platform for Businesses to Accelerate Payments

Branch today announced the launch of its Employer Payments Platform (EPP) to help businesses accelerate payments...

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March 2018
Technology and Real Estate Must Blend Together

Technology and real estate must blend together better today in order to support an evolving retail market...

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