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Closing Bell

Packers Partner With Microsoft For Innovation Lab Within Titletown

The Packers today announced that the club is working with Microsoft to create an accelerator and innovation lab by next year in the new 45-acre Titletown Development district across the street from Lambeau Field. The team will spend $8-10M for the new building and contribute $5M to a venture capital fund. Microsoft also will contribute $5M to the fund. “The concept of Titletown has always been a lot larger than just leveraging the packers brand into a successful real estate brand,” said team General Counsel Ed Policy. “It was always meant to build a magnet to bring world class people and brands to our community.”

Microsoft will house three to four employees at what is being called Titletown Tech. The accelerator will seed startups, and the innovation lab offer management expertise. Microsoft President Brad Smith said sports teams are already digitally advanced. The technology giant had been looking at taking its knowhow to smaller markets, and the packers brand and Titletown offered that opportunity. The decision to invest in Titletown is not connected to Microsoft’s larger sponsorship of the NFL, he said. The Dodgers also have an accelerator, though that one focuses on companies at the nexus of sports and technology. The Packers one will not focus on sports, Smith said, but a variety of sectors.

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