Ulta Beauty is joining the VC fray, officially launching its Prisma Ventures fund to invest $20 million in beauty and retail technology startups.

Why it matters: As tech innovations have become more vital to retail success, more players are rolling out their own venture funds to access and scale nascent technologies. (See Walmart, Home Depot).

How it works: Prisma Ventures, which had a soft rollout late last year, targets startups in the seed to Series A stages, Sartori says.

Flashback: Prisma Ventures, announced at the company’s 2021 Investor Day, has invested in a handful startups over the last year. Sartori declined to disclose the size of investments, which have included:

What they’re saying: Sartori says it's not only about giving these startups access to capital. It’s also about strategically partnering with them to “create an environment where they can test and experiment and grow, with the support of the fund.”

State of play: The innovations being co-created with the fund are about accessing customers that may be outside of Ulta’s current customers, Sartori says.

The bottom line: The fund is “like a gateway to a larger world, not only in beauty, but really innovation technology in the retail space,” Sartori tells Axios.