intu Accelerate

L Marks partnered with shopping centre development and management company intu to launch intu Accelerate

Intu Accelerate launched in 2017 and has since invited two cohorts of startups to take part in the 10-week collaboration programme. Over 130 startups have applied for the programme across two years and we have seen pitches from 34 teams in total. 14 startups have been enrolled in the programme in two cohorts.

Through intu Accelerate, intu has realised its ambition to collaborate with innovative and agile young businesses. The company has in turn shown tenants that it’s always looking for ways to anticipate market trends and provide the best possible service.

‘’That cultural change that happened across intu through agilit and pace was something that really stood out for me and L Marks were particularly amazing at making sure that they were on us so that we really did make things happen quickly.’’
Karen Harris – Managing Director, intu.co.uk

“Intu is arguably facing into that [digital] reality more so than any of its rivals, with 40 staff employed in its Intu Digital arm and its Intu Accelerate programme working with start-ups and tech companies that want to take their innovations into shopping centres.”

Retail Week

Results

Greendeck

Greendeck is an Indian startup that uses AI to help retailers automatically classify products into categories and attributes.

Collaboration

During the programme, Greendeck successfully helped into categorise 700,00 more products on its website, increase the depth score of the women’s fashion category by 91%, achieve 95% accuracy on gender classification of products and fully integrate its API with intu’s systems.

Outcomes

Greendeck secured a fully commercial agreement with intu following the programme and will launch from operations in the UK in 2019. Following this success, Greendeck was acquired by Gtmhub (now Quantitive) in 2022.

Bots and Us (now Dexory)

Bots and Us have created a social robot called Bo who can interact with customers and guests.

Collaboration

During the 2017 programme, Bo was customised to create a bespoke experience for intu customers to help them with; finding stores in the shopping centre, identifying the latest promotions and giving feedback. Trials were run successfully in the Lakeside and Milton Keynes stores to validate the proposition. The trial secured over 6300 interactions with customers and insights into how the service could be iterated and enhanced.

Outcomes

Following the programme, interviewing to test and validate their business case, bots and Us has continued in its growth and since raised over $110M and rebranded as Dexory.

WeFiFo

WeFiFo is a social eating hub connecting home cooks, Supper Club hosts and professional chefs with paying guests. Aiming to be ‘Airbnb’ for the kitchen table their mission is to start a social eating revolution. Before joining intu Accelerate in 2018, WeFiFo had already proved that the social dining proposition could work in a retail context through the JLAB from John Lewis and Waitrose programme in 2017 which saw Waitrose rolling the concept out to over 42 stores nationwide.

Collaboration

During intu Accelerate, WeFiFo trialled the concept at intu’s Chapelfield shopping centre which allowed for engagement with local food experts press and the general public. Following the programme,

Outcomes

Following the end of the intu Accelerate programme, WeFiFo has continued to partner with intu to promote it’s agenda to create more engaging customer experiences through social dining opportunities

WeFiFo launched its latest crowdfunding round on Crowdcube in October 2018. It met its £400,000 target in just two months.

WeFiFo was recognised as one of the top 30 Most Caring Companies in England by Real Business.

“The intu Supper Club is a new revolutionary dining experience, which when combined with WeFiFo’s tech platform, is set to change the way in which we eat out,”

Trevor Prereira, Commercial and Digital Director, intu