The Home Depot®, the world’s largest home improvement retailer, is working with Georgia Tech’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 Georgia Tech 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 Georgia Tech 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.

“Georgia 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 Georgia, so this collaboration with The Home Depot is a natural extension of Georgia Tech’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 Georgia Tech 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.