Walgreens is teaming-up with MATTER, a Chicago-based healthcare incubator, in a deal that will see the retail pharma chain collaborating with MATTER’s network of 150+ industry entrepreneurs and partners, who are focused on accelerating the development and growth of solutions that address industry challenges and improve care.

“We’re looking forward to working with MATTER and uncovering new innovation that can help shape the future of healthcare, technology and pharmacy,” Brad Fluegel, senior vice president and chief healthcare commercial market development officer at Walgreens, said in a statement.

As part of the deal, Walgreens will actively contribute to MATTER’s knowledge network, providing expertise and resources to MATTER’s curriculum, participating in mentorship, and supporting other initiatives. Also, the company will join MATTER and Leavitt Partners as a founding partner of the recently launched Health Care Council of Chicago (HC3) organization. HC3’s charter is to convene Chicagoland healthcare companies to expand the intellectual, technical, human and financial capital required to succeed in a value-based healthcare economy while concurrently raising Chicago’s profile as an American healthcare epicenter.

“Walgreens has been a retail pharmacy pioneer for more than a century,” Steven Collens, MATTER CEO, said in a statement. “The opportunities, insights, and perspectives that Walgreens provides will prove invaluable to the innovators at MATTER and to the Healthcare Council of Chicago.”

MATTER acts as a community hub for stakeholders across the healthcare industry, from executives of established companies, to entrepreneurs building their own innovative solutions to real healthcare problems.