Walmart to launch 'Store No 8', its startup incubator in Silicon Valley

After acquiring Jet.com, Walmart is aiming to expand its e-commerce market.

Walmart is building its own tech incubator in Silicon Valley, dubbed Store No 8 to invest in the next generation of retail technology startups. The startup incubator will be home to startups wholly owned by Walmart but run independently.

Marc Lore, chief executive officer of Walmart’s e-commerce operations, announced the incubator at the ShopTalk conference in Las Vegas.

"There's not a focus just on today, they can actually think bigger," Lore said. "It's ring-fenced from the organisation so they can just run fast."

Store No. 8 will be headed by Seth Beal, previously senior vice president for global marketplace and digital store operations at Walmart and Jet's Katie Finnegan.

“We knew we needed to keep investing in the future of retail,” Seth Beal said. “We’re making sure that we make the right short-term decisions but don’t neglect the long term.”

The incubator will partner with startups, venture capitalists and academics to promote innovation in robotics, virtual and augmented reality, machine learning and artificial intelligence, according to Wal-Mart. The retail company is aiming to have a fast-moving, separate entity to identify emerging technologies that can be developed and used across Walmart.

In the last two months alone, Walmart has bought three online retailers, ModCloth, ShoeBuy and Moosejaw to diversify its online offering.

Lore further said that he plans to make more acquisitions in the future. “We’re seeing what these acquisitions have done for the business. It’s definitely a nice surge, so we will continue to do it.”