Rimas Kapeskas joined postal delivery company UPS’s corporate venturing unit, UPS Strategic Enterprise Fund, as managing director in 2011, 14 years after its launch in 1997.
In an interview for 2012’s GCV Powerlist, Kapeskas said: “I have been with UPS for a number of years [since 1984]. I previously served as director of our product research and development group, where we develop new products in-house. It has been an interesting transition moving over to the corporate venturing side. You go through many of the same steps trying to launch a new product internally as startups go through. You need to go shopping for internal support, resources and funding. There are a lot of parallels.”
He added: “The biggest shift is, before my taking over, all investments were in the US. When I took over the mandate, we decided to look more broadly globally. The dynamics of global business are shrinking barriers with improved communications and supply chains. There is also a growing consumer class globally, so we want to learn about the dynamics of changes globally, not just the US.”
UPS backed UK-based Shutl – acquired by eBay – as one of its first portfolio investments outside the US. Newer deals include Germany-based Itembase, US-based Deliv, CyPhy Works, Peloton, Roadie, Ally Commerce and CloudDDM, all backed in the past two years.
To help test its applicability to its main business, UPS last year set up a 3D print farm at its largest air transport hub to replicate critical parts for customers who need them fast. At last year’s GCV Symposium, Kapeskas said: “We have service and production lines positioned to provide what we refer to as end-of-the-runway services – we actively participate in whatever the supply chain shifts are. With technologies like 3D printing, the future is hard to predict, but easier to create.”
On corporate venturing, Kapeskas said: “One can create the best, most rational data-based investment presentations, but ultimately you find that human beings need to make decisions based on what they can experience. You need to find the right people in the company and take them out in the world. They need to see and viscerally experience new technologies and business models. That is what changes minds.”
Kapeskas gained his MBA from Emory University and his BSc from University of Connecticut.