Big data that is linked to influencing personalised recommendations and customer preferences is at the heart of a $10m series B round of funding backed by corporate venturing units IDG Capital and East Sky Investments.
Month: August 2013
Olapic snaps up $5m in series A round
Fung Capital USA, a venture capital fund affiliated with Li & Fung Ltd, has led a $10m series A round for a US-based start-up that is racking up tens of millions of dollars in added sales for its clients, which include large brands and e-commerce companies.
Is CVC filling the gap?
Corporate venture capital (CVC) activity jumped 23% year-over-year (YoY) in the second quarter of 2013, spurred by more CVCs doing deals and by a small group of hyperactive corporate venture investors, according to a report from venture capital database curator CB Insights. The report observes that Q2 2013 saw corporate VCs participate in 126 deals… Continue reading Is CVC filling the gap?
The Clean Deal: Yellow&Blue adds up to green investment
Yellow&Blue Investment Management, a Utrecht-based clean energy venture investor founded by the Dutch utility Nuon in 2008, has emerged as one of Europe’s leading investors in smart grid, renewable and energy-efficient technology companies. Its managing director, Albert Fischer, has clear views about how utilities should do corporate venturing, which he describes as “industrial crowdfunding”. Fischer said: “The key question is how much freedom a utility really… Continue reading The Clean Deal: Yellow&Blue adds up to green investment
Are partners worth more than the sum of their firms?
Academics Boris Battistini and Martin Haemmig look at a recent study finding evidence individual venture capitalists are able to secure repeatable investment success.
Truth about non-disclosure
According to Wikipedia, venture capital (VC) is financial capital provided to early-stage, high-potential, high-risk start-up companies on the back of a novel technology or business model – so is it really any wonder so much emphasis is placed on maintaining the confidentiality of information related to an entrepreneur’s innovation, novel technology or business model? While… Continue reading Truth about non-disclosure
Competitive edginess
The EU’s competition watchdog, the European Commission, is seeking to upgrade its competition toolkit by giving itself power to review acquisitions of non-controlling minority shareholdings. While on the one hand stating a clear intention to make European merger control rules simpler and less onerous, it may seem odd that the commission is simultaneously consulting on changes that could lead to significantly… Continue reading Competitive edginess
Digital health: exploring a new landscape
Without stones, there is no arch – Marco Polo So the thinking goes. When an exciting technology emerges in a core market, strategic venture capitalists use equity to place an early bet, influence strategy and development, while thoughtfully protecting the downside by not committing fully via merger or acquisition. Assuming the technology is appropriately derisked… Continue reading Digital health: exploring a new landscape
Nigeria: an emerging scene
Recently, I received an email from Otabor, a former colleague who is a graduate student in London. He wanted help with details of corporate venturing firms in Nigeria. I mused and wondered if there were corporate venturers in Nigeria. I had to confirm that he was not confusing venture capital firms with corporate venturing firms. Nigeria’s… Continue reading Nigeria: an emerging scene
Solar start-ups emerge from stealth
The sixth annual Intersolar North American trade show took place in San Francisco last month. During the three- day trade show, one of the biggest in the US, a number of solar-industry start-ups funded by venture capital (VC) emerged from “stealth mode”. Solar has been a notorious sink of VC in recent years, and as… Continue reading Solar start-ups emerge from stealth
Corpse pose: looks easy
The hardest yoga position to master is corpse pose. Savasana, the fancy name for corpse pose, is just lying on your back, not moving – completely relaxing, so your focus lies only in your breathing is really difficult. It only seems easy. The same could be said for all aspects of building and growing a… Continue reading Corpse pose: looks easy
Innovative region: Myanmar
Being an entrepreneur in Myanmar is painful and you have to be gutsy. If you want to set up a business in this virgin land of business opportunities you had better put your sense of humour on standby and have bottles of antacid and headache tablets at the ready.
The female paradigm
We should be investing more in women, according to our regular columnist Marianne Abib-Pech.
The corporate adventurer
The entrepreneur and the corporate executive. It is often thought they inhabit two opposing ends of the professional spectrum – the visionary and the executor, risk-taker and deal-maker. True, they bring contrasting skillsets to the boardroom, but what of their values and motivations? Are they polarised? Indeed, is it naive even to think of these… Continue reading The corporate adventurer