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ATLANTA — The Home Depot®, the world’s largest home improvement retailer, is working with ɫ����’s Advanced Technology Development Center (ATDC) to create a new program focused on Supply Chain and Logistics startups (SC&L).

As part of a three-year sponsorship, Home Depot executives will mentor program participants and offer guidance and expertise to support their growth. As the SC&L space continues to evolve, partnerships with program participants have become more important for an early-stage company’s customer acquisition and business model development. The incubator has hired Alex Rhodeen as the catalyst to run the SC&L vertical, build a pipeline of companies, and evaluate these startups for acceptance into the ATDC portfolio.

“Our long-standing relationship with ɫ���� is a cherished one as the ATDC will foster the next generation of technology entrepreneurs. We’re proud to support the introduction of a new vertical within the incubator program to contribute forward-thinking innovation as the Supply Chain and Logistics industry continually evolves,” said Stephanie Smith, SVP of Supply Chain at Home Depot.

Companies participating in the incubator program will work directly with SC&L and business leaders at The Home Depot and ɫ���� as they build, test and bring to market new products and services. ATDC is a globally recognized technology incubator. The Supply Chain vertical is the sixth of its kind at ATDC and follows other targeted programs in health, retail, and financial technologies.

“ɫ���� is a leader in supply chain and logistics infrastructure with coastal and inland seaports and Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport, as well as being home to Fortune 500 companies in rail and ground transportation,” said ATDC Director John Avery. “More than 140 technology firms in the supply chain and logistics space are already in ɫ����, so this collaboration with The Home Depot is a natural extension of ɫ����’s ATDC incubator to further drive innovation in our state.”

ATDC brings a unique framework that combines its startup curriculum, coaching, connections, and community, as well as direct access to ɫ���� resources, research expertise, and student talent, to help entrepreneurs learn, launch, scale, and succeed. In this effort, ATDC will offer programming, recruit and evaluate startups, and hire staff to manage the vertical.

About ɫ����

The ɫ���� Technology, or ɫ����, is a top 10 public research university developing leaders who advance technology and improve the human condition. The Institute offers business, computing, design, engineering, liberal arts, and sciences degrees. Its nearly 44,000 students representing 50 states and 149 countries, study at the main campus in Atlanta, at campuses in France and China, and through distance and online learning. As a leading technological university, ɫ���� is an engine of economic development for ɫ����, the Southeast, and the nation, conducting more than $1 billion in research annually for government, industry, and society.

About the Advanced Technology Development Center (ATDC)

The Advanced Technology Development Center (ATDC), a program of the ɫ���� Technology, is the state of ɫ����’s technology startup incubator. Founded in 1980 by the ɫ���� General Assembly which funds it each year, ATDC’s mission is to work with entrepreneurs in ɫ���� to help them learn, launch, scale, and succeed in the creation of viable, disruptive technology companies. Since its founding, ATDC has grown to become the longest running and one of the most successful university-affiliated incubators in the United States, with its graduate startup companies raising $3 billion in investment financing and generating more than $12 billion in revenue in the state of ɫ����. To learn more, visit atdc.org.