Deal sizes in corporate-backed rounds have risen in median size across the board from seed-stage to series E beyond since 2011, according to data presented at the symposium by Kaloyan Andonov, reporter and analyst for GCV Analytics.
The growth of round sizes mirrors an 11-time overall increase in dollar value over the same period.
Andonov’s presentation also included a summary of a pilot survey conducted with the founders of businesses that have received corporate investment. Though limited in sample size, some of the insights nevertheless shed light on areas where corporate venture capital (CVC) units could better support their portfolio investments.
Referring back to the “Cambrian explosion” metaphor used to describe growth in CVC activity earlier in the symposium, Andonov’s presentation showed that just under 1,600 corporates had made at least one minority investment in 2018, a year-on-year increase of 28% and an immeasurable distance from the 369 recorded back in 2011.
Andonov presented this year’s insights from GCV Analytics before handing the stage over to Martin Haemmig, an adjunct professor at the Technical Centre for Mechanical Industry and the Glorad Center for Global R&D and Innovation, whose headline figures demonstrated the continued dominance of the US in overall global VC deal flow.
Haemmig’s data identified China as the biggest destination for investment flowing out of the US, with 83 deals, representing approximately 15% of the overall total, ahead of the UK and Israel in second and third place, with 10% and 8% respectively.
The presentation also highlighted CVC’s performance advantage over institutional VC-backed businesses, according to certain metrics.
Haemmig said companies with a CVC investor were, for instance, 50% less likely to have gone bankrupt between 2008 and 2012. An exit analysis for the same period suggested companies with corporate backing in at least one previous round had a roughly 34% chance of achieving either an IPO or an acquisition, compared to about 24% for companies with no previous corporate involvement.