dunnhumby Launches In-House Innovation Labs

Customer data pioneer dunnhumby has launched an in-house tech accelerator called dunnhumby Labs (dh Labs), to develop its product offerings in the global retail marketplace. The new business unit will be led by Kyle Fugere, who also heads dunnhumby ventures.

The Labs' current projects include a B2C app called HuYu, which sources behavioral, attitudinal and lifestyle data directly from verified customers and is part of the dunnhumbyBeyond suite of research solutions; the 'OneFour' analytical engine, which slashes the time taken to generate customer-based metrics such as household penetration; and dh Evolve, an automated machine-learning platform focused on solving complex retail challenges, such as understanding customer churn and predicting propensity to purchase.

Fugere (pictured) comments: 'As part of my role operating the venture capital fund, I have had the opportunity to work hand in hand, as a board member and as an advisor, with start-ups around the world. Now, in my dual role leading dh Labs, I am working with the team to take the lessons learned from working with high-growth startups and applying them to our most promising innovations. The mission is to push our team members to think like a startup, to aggressively pursue big opportunities, and to accelerate their path to value creation'.

CTO David Jack says of the new unit: 'I am delighted that we are able to build on the successes of our venture team investments through our new accelerator to develop our own start-ups'.

dunnhumby employs more than 2,500 experts in offices throughout Europe, Asia, Africa and the Americas; and is online at www.dunnhumby.com .