Hello from the heart of a scorching summer here in western Canada.
In this issue of Radar, I wanted to share a bit about what we’re working on at IOVIA and what you can expect from us in the future.
It’s all about sustainable businesses
When we launched IOVIA in 2015, we did so with core foundational beliefs about the future of business, particularly what we saw as the deepening nature of consumer-brand relationships and their potential to lead to better ventures. Today, we have big issues to face together: climate change, systemic inequality, pervasive mental health challenges and a post-pandemic recovery. More than ever, we believe that business needs to be a force for good.
Going forward, IOVIA is focusing exclusively on partnering with sustainable businesses, those organizations looking to directly address the challenges of our current moment and the coming decade. We’re still building community and we’re still championing the brand-consumer relationship, but we’re doing it all with a sharper eye on the impacts to people and planet.
In fact, we’re so committed to sustainable business, we’ve taken equity positions with two of our clients this year. We’re partnering with them to build consumer-focused businesses that will thrive in the 2020s.
Our Brand Accelerator Labs are helping plant-based food brands grow
Our sustainability focus is a major reason why we’ve put so much of our attention on the plant-based food space this year. It’s a sector of the economy that offers so much promise in everything from environmental impact to animal welfare to human health.
Our second Brand Accelerator Lab for Plant-Based Food Brands kicks off September 27th. We’ve just opened registrations for this cohort so if you’re interested or know of a brand that might be, please do pass along the link.
Here’s the official announcement of the second cohort.
And here’s what Julia Stamberger, CEO of Spinning Wheel Brands, LLC said about our first Brand Accelerator Lab:
“IOVIA’s Brand Accelerator Lab showed us how building community could help us create new brand value and accelerate our growth.
“We learned practical strategies and tools proven by major multi-nationals but easily deployable by our emerging brand. I highly recommend the IOVIA team and the Brand Accelerator Lab for other companies in the plant-based food space. Their approach has given us a competitive advantage that will enable us to stand out and scale up in an increasingly crowded industry.”
What’s next in 2021
Our sustainable-business focus and series of Brand Accelerator Labs marks the start of our new suite of business growth offerings where we’ll be making deeper commitments to our clients’ success.
We’ll be in the trenches with them as a growth partner as they build their brands with consumers and grow their revenues. We’ll also be making additional equity investments in clients aligned with our mission.
Watch for more announcements on all of this in the coming months.
Let’s talk about how IOVIA can help your brand grow
If you want to know how we can help your brand grow (or grow more sustainable) or want a sneak peak of what we’re working on behind the scenes, please drop me a line. You can always reach me at rob@iovia.io.
Rob Dawson, CEO
IOVIA