Stefan Gabriel was a 23-year veteran of Germany-based automaker BMW before he joined 3M to set up its corporate venturing unit 3M New Ventures in 2008.
He added: “Our mandate is to identify and invest in disruptive early-stage technologies and business models to expand 3M`s global innovation leadership.”
He was most proud of creating a global corporate venture operation at 3M, with a strategic mandate and offices in Munich, Singapore, Boston and Sao Paolo. He added he was pleased it had “independent validation” when 3M received the German Federal Ministry of Economics and Technology’s Best Innovator 2011-12 award for innovation management and corporate venturing.
He said: “An outstanding example for best practice corporate venturing is the collaboration between one of our portfolio companies and a 3M division. The roll-out of the 3M solution based on the start-up’s technology started in April, leading to triple-digit millions of dollars in sales.”
The company has done 18 investments, which are strategic for 3M at mostly early stage, investing approximately $3m to $5m as lead or co-investor. Gabriel said: “3M’s business groups are increasingly taking advantage of collaboration opportunities with our portfolio companies, thus maximising the strategic synergies.”
Gabriel is on the board of the Association for Innovation in German Industry and is an advisory board member of Tech2b.
Lessons from the top: Gabriel said: “Co-investments with other strategics become more often competitive or complementary. Maximising and actually implementing on the strategic synergies is the single biggest challenge for corporate venture groups. Rigorously select the best opportunities around the globe, which means a local presence and network, near universities and hot spots, like MIT, where we have an office, for example.”