Chema Alonso, chief digital commercial officer of Telefónica:
“The connected open innovation area, with the new units that Irene [Gómez] has set up – Fast Track and Venture Builder – our company is better prepared to the challenges our society is facing, allowing Telefonica to offer more digital products through digital channels and enhancing its leading position within the industry.”
Mary Barra, chairman and CEO of GM:
“Technology and innovation will drive General Motors’ vision of a world with zero crashes, zero emissions and zero congestion. Under Jon Lauckner’s leadership, the GM Ventures team has invested in breakthrough innovations that are accelerating our work. Long after his well-deserved retirement following a 40-year General Motors’ career, Jon’s contributions will be shaping the future of transportation.”
Ashok Belani, executive vice-president (EVP) of technology of Schlumberger who is now EVP for the corporate’s new energy division:
“The Schlumberger venture group is an integral part of the technology development ecosystem, which comprises science, engineering, universities, manufacturing, technology lifecycle management and startup companies. It has been a successful business venture, not only having led to commercial products and services, but it has also given Schlumberger a deep insight and network into a broad range of potentially impactful new technology domains outside of our traditional business areas.”
Vanessa Colella, chief innovation officer of Citi and head of Citi Ventures:
“Partnership is one of the most important ingredients for a successful corporate venture capital team and Arvind Purushotham embodies all the qualities that make a successful partner. Arvind believes that emerging technologies and forward- thinking startups can drive innovation and push companies like Citi forward, but he also understands and appreciates the business challenges and constraints our colleagues face.”
Wiebe Draijer, CEO of Rabobank:
“As a bank we have to renew ourselves continuously in order to solve the client’s needs of tomorrow and the social challenges we
are facing. Corporate venturing creates new opportunities for the future of the bank and is an important instrument to reach out to the game changers in the market. Especially the ones in the food and agri market have a special interest to us.”
Bob van Dijk, group CEO of Prosus and Naspers:
“2019 was a transformative year for the group, which included listing Prosus on Euronext Amsterdam and accelerating growth in our e-commerce portfolio, while continuing to target future growth through Prosus Ventures. As CEO for Prosus Ventures and our food delivery segment, Larry has played a key role in improving the daily lives of millions of people in high-growth markets across the world.
Food delivery was a significant investment area, focused on driving order and revenue growth, establishing Prosus as a leading global investor in the sector. Through the ventures team, Larry [Illg] has ensured our investments in emerging sectors including logistics and blockchain, and existing sectors such as education, can pave the way for the group’s future growth.”
Mark Gainsborough, executive vice- president at Shell New Energies:
“Through Shell Ventures, our New Energies business obtains early insights into disruptive trends in our industry and creates options for future business growth. This allows Shell to anticipate the change that is happening as a result of the energy transition.”
Mark Ganz, CEO of Cambia Health Solutions:
“Echo [Health Ventures] is the vehicle in which we find companies. We give them much more than funding. We give them ways in which their product or service can be even more effective and gain traction more quickly. Their innovation can become part of our larger platform for innovation in health care.”
Suren Gupta, executive vice-president, of Allstate Technology and Strategic Ventures:
“Allstate Strategic Ventures is an important part of Allstate’s innovation strategy. Our team has connected Allstate’s business units with promising startups, which has led to some key partnerships that created value for Allstate. I am proud of the team’s global recognition and their leadership in the Chicago corporate venture capital community.”
Tor Arne Hansen, head of investments and M&A of DNB:
“DNB Ventures is clearly an important lever in the bank’s digital transformation. Sharing complementary resources between the bank and the startup creates common benefits, and this is why we put a lot of effort into DNB Ventures. Our ventures arm does a fantastic job, and has over the last couple of years positioned DNB as a very attractive fintech investor in the Nordic space.”
Robin Hayes, CEO of JetBlue Airways:
“JetBlue has always been a forward- thinking airline and we want to stay ahead of new technologies to continue improving the entire travel experience for our customers. JetBlue Technology Ventures allows us to invest in and shape the future of our industry through the strategic partnerships the team is building with startups innovating in travel and hospitality – from solutions alleviating the pain of flight delays to affordable electric aircraft.”
Shigenao Ishiguro, president and CEO of TDK Corporation:
“I believe there are three essential factors for startups: innovative ideas, entrepreneurship, and, of course, funds. TDK wants to bring much more than capital to the equation. TDK Venture invests in early-stage innovative startups in material sciences, energy and related areas, that have unfortunately been underrepresented in venture capital portfolios, and that we know will have a profound and positive impact in the world we live in.”
Emmanuel Lagarrigue, chief innovation officer of Schneider Electric:
“We look to partner with companies and entrepreneurs that bring disruptive ideas and agility and we bring deep customer knowledge and resources to test and scale ideas.”
Andrey Laptev, director of business development and corporate venture investments at Severstal:
“Severstal is already an industry leader in terms of global cost and profitability. However, we aim to build on this, and strengthen our leadership by increasing the cost gap between us and other producers and providing our clients with even more innovative and unique solutions. To achieve this, we are building mutually beneficial partnerships with venture funds and tech companies. Investments in venture capital funds provide unique access to a vast range of projects.”
Kenneth Li, CEO of MDI Singapore:
“Despite his age, Aldi Adrian Hartanto is very much experienced in the Indonesian venture industry since the beginning of the wave. I met him when I first started MDI Ventures back in 2015 and at the time he was with Fenox Venture Capital, after his tenure he moves to another CVC called MCI (Bank Mandiri’s CVC arm) and there was where he actually caught our eye at MDI. His investments at MCI had been stellar to say the least – he led investments on companies such as Amartha, Moka (exited $100m-plus to Gojek) and Investree, of which they made exceptional returns on their own.”
Mike Mahaffey, chief strategy and corporate development officer of Nationwide:
“As the leader of Nationwide’s venture capital team, Erik Ross has helped position Nationwide as a forward-thinking, innovative company with which entrepreneurs and technology startups want to do business. His strategic approach and collaborative spirit continues to support Nationwide’s mission to protect people, businesses and futures with extraordinary care.”
Omkaram ‘Om’ Nalamasu, chief technology officer and senior vice-president of Applied Ventures:
“Anand Kamannavar is an experienced and accomplished venture capitalist who heads Applied Ventures. He is deeply engaged across the whole Materials to Systems innovation ecosystem that Applied Ventures is investing in and has played a critical role in identifying, creating the thesis, and leading venture investments and guiding product development teams to enable large global inflections in AI, 5G, AR/VR, cloud, life sciences and clean energy industry verticals and is one of industry’s deep tech thought-leaders.
Mark Penn, chairman and CEO of MDC Partners:
“Jessica [Peltz- Zatulove] has been instrumental in shifting our ventures investments over the last year to align with MDC’s new strategic plan and operational priorities. In doing so, she has stewarded an investment strategy around two tracks: bigger equity stakes in emerging companies that directly improve the marketing world, and actively incubating new technologies of our own. I view a large part of our job at MDC to be identifying, building and providing access to the cutting-edge technologies that elevate our network and provide a distinct competitive advantage for us and our clients. With Jessica’s leadership, we are thrilled to be doing just that.”
John Pettigrew, group CEO of National Grid:
“I wanted to ensure we had an organisation that was connecting with new technology, with startups, and then bringing that new technology back into National Grid so we can adapt and meet the changing needs of our customers. And that is where National Grid Partners came from. For any startup that has got great technology and great ideas, National Grid’s a great platform to take those ideas forward. Working with Lisa and her team, she’ll give you access to the people in our businesses who are desperate to improve service to
our customers, improve security. It is a perfect segue into the business through Lisa Lambert.”
Patrick Pouyanné, chairman and CEO of Total:
“The Total Carbon Neutrality Ventures fund will fully support Total’s ambition to become the responsible energy major. It will allow us to expand the reach of our low-carbon businesses beyond our own borders. Over the next five years, the $400m fund will begin to invest in startups whose technologies or innovative solutions could contribute to carbon neutrality.”
Thomas Rabe, chairman and CEO of Bertelsmann:
“Investments in young digital companies with innovative business models play an important role in the implementation of our strategy. Through these investments, we ensure the transfer of knowledge both about digital trends that support our transformation and about promising markets. Our investment fund BAI, in particular, is very successful.”
Brian Roberts, CEO of Comcast:
“Under Amy Banse’s leadership, Comcast Ventures has invested in some of the most innovative consumer and enterprise technology companies. We have worked together for nearly 30 years and I have always admired her passion and vision for identifying the next big idea. She has carried that through Comcast Ventures and has helped her team develop hundreds of value-creating partnerships.”
Harald Schwager, member and deputy chairman of the executive board of Evonik Industries:
“Bernhard Mohr and his global venture capital team lay the foundation for fruitful cooperation between the startups and the businesses within Evonik, creating value for all involved. Venture capital makes a strong contribution to our purpose of leading beyond chemistry to improve life, today and tomorrow.”
Scott Serota, CEO of the Blue Cross Blue Shield Association:
“Blue Cross Blue Shield Venture Partners plays a key role in advancing healthcare innovation while providing invaluable competitive advantages. Thanks to John [Banta]’s terrific leadership, the funds not only have delivered healthy returns on strategic investments, they have established Blue Cross Blue Shield as a highly desirable partner for leading venture firms and entrepreneurs. Current events highlight the importance of innovation in critical areas such as site-of-care and telemedicine, both areas where the fund has and will continue to pave the way.”
Steve Squeri, chairman and CEO of Amex:
“You cannot win without an external perspective. You need to understand what is going on in the marketplace. Amex Ventures gives us an opportunity to learn and get that external perspective.”
Hiroki Totoki, representative corporate executive officer, senior EVP and CFO of Sony Corporation:
“Over the past 15 years, Gen Tsuchikawa has embodied Sony’s ongoing commitment to innovation, an attribute which runs throughout our company’s DNA. He has driven a wide range of strategic initiatives, spanning the spectrum of Sony’s diverse businesses worldwide. Under Gen’s leadership, Sony Innovation Fund has grown from its founding in 2016 into an established venture firm while promoting open innovation throughout Sony. Now with over 60 investments, Gen and his global team provide tremendous value to entrepreneurs across the globe and have expanded our vision and reach by spearheading the newly launched Innovation Growth Fund, in partnership with Daiwa Capital Holdings.”
