Corporate venturing’s engine has begun to roar loud and clear in 2014. Global Corporate Venturing’s data shows that this year has already been more active in terms of number and size of investments as well as in exit activity, as our third-quarter analysis in this issue shows.
This frenetic pace of dealmaking is being accompanied by a seemingly limitless group of corporations trying to figure out their strategy for investing in venture. Seldom does a week go by without Global Corporate Venturing dealing with a large multinational, until now not involved in corporate venturing, which is attempting to develop an intelligent strategy to invest in the sector.
Analysis shows that 25 of the 30 members of the Dow Jones Industrial Average have at least one of the following – a corporate venturing unit, an accelerator or a lab. Our experience also suggests those corporations that set up accelerators typically set up a venturing unit within two years to reap the benefits from the contacts in the venture capital and entrepreneurial communities that end up tapping corporate resources.
Of course with this enthusiasm, worry is also growing that excess is creeping into behaviour. Well-regarded venture capital veteran Brad Feld recently joined the list of experienced executives who have pointed to the vibrant levels of corporate investment in start-ups as a typical sign of cyclical excess. Global Corporate Venturing will be publishing Feld’s advice to corporates on how to engage constructively with the venture capital world and avoid the kinds of behaviour that have tarnished some corporations’ reputations in the past.
In our effort to contribute to long-term thinking within the corporate venturing industry, Global Corporate Venturing is currently focused on two major projects – our Global Corporate Venturing Academy, teaching corporate venturing best practices, and our World of Corporate Venturing 2015, set to be the definitive guide to what groups are doing in the sector.
The academy, run by Andrew Gaule, fomerly of Corven Networks, alongside other industry veterans, last month held its first session in London. Gaule is planning the academy’s next session in London in January, and another session in February in California. Details here.
You can help the World of Corporate Venturing 2015 be the authoritative guide to the industry by responding to our survey, which also includes questions for our year end and outlook reports in December and January.
In this month’s issue we focus on the finance sector, with mini-profiles of the new corporate venturing effort of Dutch-based insurer Aegon, Transamerica Ventures, Ping An Ventures, the corporate venturing unit of the China-based insurer, and Commerz Ventures, the corporate venturing unit of the Germany-based bank.
London Environmental Investment Forum’s Tom Whitehouse highlights his report on water innovation in the oil and gas and chemicals sectors, where he partnered Global Corporate Venturing; Chirag Patel, of Highnote Foundry, advises on how to set up a corporate venturing unit; and our regular academic commentators Boris Battistini and Martin Haemmig examine how tolerance of failure can improve venture investment returns – all this alongside the usual array of excellent comment pieces by our regular commentators and assorted contributors.