Mars, Inc., McLean, Va., partnered with Jerusalem Venture Partners (JVP), an Israel-based venture capital fund, to develop what is said to be the first-of-its-kind research and development agreement in Israel aiming to pursue innovative tech solutions for global food, agriculture and nutrition challenges.

Halla, a Los Angeles-based artificial intelligence (AI) company, announced a $1.4 million seed round, led by early stage food industry investor E&A Venture Capital, San Francisco, with participation from multi-stage technology investor SOSV, Princeton, N.J.

The second annual joint survey of supply chain executives from JDA Software, Inc., Scottsdale, Ariz., and KPMG LLP, Switzerland, details the key innovation investments across retail, manufacturing and logistics in 2019.

IRI, Chicago, collaborated with Chicago-based Retail Leader magazine to discover the Top 5 disruptors impacting the retail industry.

Over the past three years, Target Corp., Minneapolis, has been helping startup companies learn the ropes of retail through its growing portfolio of accelerator programming.

Tyme Commerce, San Francisco, developed an end-to-end artificial intelligence-driven food platform that simplifies food for large employee groups and establishes a restaurant-to-restaurant marketplace.

From new technology to sustainable solutions that create more efficient and comfortable buildings, Sodexo, Gaithersburg, Md., named the top trends in facilities management to watch for in 2019.

Northrop Grumman Corp., Baltimore, Md., launched a new research consortium with universities to advance machine learning and artificial intelligence programs.

Yara International, Norway, partnered with IBM, North Castle, N.Y., to build what is dubbed to be the world's leading digital farming platform, providing holistic digital services and instant agronomic advice.

Walmart, Bentonville, Ark., debuted a new Intelligent Retail Lab (IRL) in its Levittown, N.Y., location, complete with artificial intelligence-enabled cameras, interactive displays and a massive data center.