John Lewis reveals first JLAB 2018 finalists

The John Lewis Partnership has revealed the three finalists that will join its retail tech innovation programme, JLAB, following the first pitch day of 2018, which was based on a health and wellbeing theme.

These are:

Kafoodle - a food tech business that combines personalised meal planning with dietician dashboards to monitor nutritional needs.
OME Health - offers personalised, science-based health plans built on a person’s gut microbiome, genetics blood markers and other health data.
Best in Bag - an app that helps customers with unique dietary needs to make the right food choices by giving personalised nutritional advice.

JLAB has also released details of the next pitch, which launches today via jlab.co.uk. Startups and established businesses are encouraged to submit innovative concepts which could significantly reduce the impact of plastic use in both John Lewis and Waitrose and help the Partnership make a significant contribution towards the UK Plastics Pact targets.

John Vary, Futurologist at the John Lewis Partnership and one of the pitch day judges, says: “We were extremely impressed with the entries we had and the participants who attended our first pitch day of 2018. The businesses we’ve selected in the health and wellbeing space are truly innovative and we’re looking forward to helping them make their ideas part of our customers’ experiences. We’re passionate about exploring new concepts that will transform retail and drive creativity.”