As products become more interconnected and complicated, and alternative uses of cash offer relatively lower returns then the pace of corporate venturing is only going to increase – with Intel Capital bearing the standard for what can be achieved as long as hubris does not lead to its downfall.
Month: May 2011
Lessons from the Symposium
The lessons from the best practices are captured in the Global Corporate Venturing Best Practices and Awards supplement.
Tate & Lyle craves more Lumora
Tate & Lyle Ventures is Lumora’s major shareholder having previously backed the company.
Six Degrees Games times another $4m
Time Warner-backed Six Degrees Games raises C round.
Solazyme slips past pricing range
The company issued nearly 11 million shares at $18 each compared to an expected upper range of $17 per share prior to its initial public offering. A further 1.65 million shares can be sold if demand remains strong as it began trading at $20 each.
MerchantCircle finds its Reply
The combined business, called Reply, estimated revenues of more than $100m next year.
BlackBerry taps into GrowLab
Entrepreneurs applying at GrowLab can gain up to C$25,000 in seed financing, four months of mentorship, free office space and the opportunity to pitch investors at the end of the program for follow-on funding.
SK Telecom takes turn with Sequent
Bob Borchers from Opus Capital and Rob Trice from SK Telecom Ventures will join Sequent Software’s board.
DSM’s Limburg marks its chips
Limburg backs Q Chip and ACS Biomarker.
Tesco hears the word on BzzAgent
IDG Ventures Boston, the corporate venturing unit of US-based publisher International Data Group before it became independent and renamed Flybridge, and venture capital firm General Catalyst Partners invested $13.75m in BzzAgent in 2006.
Liberty strikes for Wananchi
Wananchi Group is the only triple-play operator in East Africa and will roll out its new services in nine countries in the eastern African region: Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania, Rwanda, Burundi, Malawi, Ethiopia, Sudan and Zambia.
Google warms up with Firespotter Labs
Craig Walker set up Firespotter Labs after selling GrandCentral to Google (it became Google Voice) and becoming an entrepreneur-in-residence at Google Ventures.
SanDisk stores Pliant Technology
Pliant Technology becomes SanDisk’s Enterprise Storage Solutions business.
Lowe’s reaches sky for Sungevity
Andrew Birch, chief executive of Sungevity, said: “I am thrilled about the potential of reaching Lowe’s 15 million weekly customers at their more than 1,750 retail locations, with Sungevity’s services.”