The two big corporate venturing units of Intel and Google both had busy quarters, while German-based firms and financial institution-backed corporate venturing units were also busy.
Intel Capital, the corporate venturing unit of the US-based chipmaker, was the most active unit, in line with its status as the largest corporate venturing unit globally, having invested more than $10bn in its history.
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Ten of Intel Capital’s deals were in technology, including participation in the $30m D round of US-based data analytics company Guavus and the $20m round of semiconductor company Invisage Technologies. Following a cross-sectoral approach designed to fuel markets to strengthen demand for semiconductors, the unit backed a typically varied range of deals, including the latest round of Ireland-based wireless network company Altobridge, the $5.8m B round for vacuum robot company Persimmon Technologies and the $15m B round for social media management company Sprinklr.
Intel Capital also was alongside a number of corporates in the syndicate backing mobile banking and payment solutions company Mfoundry, which was sold to banking and payments technology company Fidelity National Information Services for $165m.
Intel Capital’s deals varied from early to late stage, with two A rounds, four B rounds, three D rounds, five stake purchases and one portfolio company acquisition.
The next most active was Google Ventures, including support for the $5.7m spin-out of About.me from AOL, the seed round of video chat company Rabbit, the $21.6m B round of social media company NextDoor, as well as an exit from social TV service Miso, which was sold to Dijit Media, a US-based maker of the NextGuide iPad application for television.
Google itself took part in one of the largest corporate venturing deals of the quarter, the $444m round raised by questionnaire company SurveyMonkey. Google Ventures’ deals were also varied, including the exit through an $80m initial public offering from smart grid networking company Silver Spring Networks. Other Google Ventures’ deals included the $80m B round for heatingcompany Nest, and an $8m round backing oncology data platform FlatIron Health – one of a number of deals the group has made backing healthcare data companies. German firms are active, with the corporate venturing units of Germany-based media company Bertelsmann, Germany-based software company SAP and Germanybased corporate-backed state venture fund High-Tech Gruenderfonds which was also the most active multi-corporate fund in the top 10.
Of the most active companies, exit winners included US-based IT company Cisco, which was one of the corporates backing Tensilica, which was sold for $380m to US-based chip design software manufacturer Cadence Design Systems (see report).
Financial companies were active in the quarter. The busiest corporate venturing unit of a bank was Wells Fargo’s Norwest Venture Partners. Three of Norwest’s deals were in healthcare, with it backing the $30m round of US-based ear, nose and throat treatment company Intersect, the $11m round of India-based cancer detection company Perfint Healthcare and the $4m round of India-based radiology diagnostics company Nueclear Healthcare.
The group’s largest investment tracked by Global Corporate Venturing during the quarter was the $50m round raised by FireEye, the US-based provider of cyber attack protection, which was also joined by banks Goldman Sachs and Silicon Valley Bank – at the same time as Fire-Eye has been linked to an initial public offering. JPMorgan, the next most active bank, was involved in consumer-based portfolio company Zalora raising $25m from Tengelmann Ventures, the corporate venturing unit of the Germany-based corporate. Zalora was one of a number of portfolio companies of feted Germany-based incubator Rocket Internet that JPMorgan backed last year.
US-based payments company PayPal’s deals included the Mfoundry sale mentioned above, the $21.5m B round raised by bill payments company BillFloat South Korea-based industrial conglomerate Samsung was the only Asian corporate in the top 10 for activity, with deals including the $22.5m E round raised by online advertising company OpenX and the $31m round raised by mobile security company Fixmo.
The corporate venturing unit of chipmaker Qualcomm’s deals included the $85m sale of UK-based location-aware software company Arieso to JDSU, while it also backed the C round of media company Verve Mobile, and the $14m G round of US-based provider of online answers to questions company ChaCha, among other deals.
Media company Conde Nast continues to make a big corporate venturing push into the consumer sector, including the $20m round raised by fashion company FarFetch and the $4.4m series C extension raised by fashion hire company Rent the Runway, taking that round to $24.4m.
The Rent the Runway deal was also joined by financial services firm American Express, which is also pushing in the consumer sector, helping spectacles retailer Warby Parker raise $41.5m.
Technology company AOL’s deals in the quarter included AOL Ventures backing the $19m B round of big data company Sailthru, and the $12m round raised by the US-based mobile application problem solver Crittercism. US-based entertainment company Comcast sealed deals including the $35m round backing US-based home renovation company Houzz.