Albertsons Cos., Boise, Idaho, and venture capital firm Greycroft, New York, created a $50 million fund that will invest in and help grow emerging companies and technologies in the grocery sector.

The fund will utilize Greycroft’s investment expertise and connections into the early-stage technology industry and Albertsons’ grocery expertise and coast-to-coast footprint to provide insights and opportunities to partner with new and emerging technologies impacting the grocery sector.

“Albertsons Cos. is committed to meeting customers wherever and however they like to shop, and part of that is being at the forefront of the tremendous innovation our industry has seen over the last five years,” says Shane Sampson, chief marketing and merchandising officer for Albertsons. “As we saw with our recent acquisition of Plated, Albertsons Cos. has the capital, scale and expertise to power future growth of the most promising emerging businesses and technologies across the food and grocery space. We are thrilled to be partnering with Greycroft, whose investment acumen and relationships are positioned to be key drivers of our success.”

“As our e-commerce companies scale, they often incorporate a brick-and-mortar strategy to reach the entire U.S. market. This partnership with Albertsons Cos. will enable our companies to tap into their 34 million weekly customers, across a wide range of industries, including consumer products, healthcare, wellness, pharmaceuticals and grocery,” says Ian Sigalow, co-founder and partner of Greycroft. “We believe that consumers should be able to get access to these high-quality products and services whenever they want, wherever they want, and that requires a coast-to-coast footprint.”