Tomasz Rudolf, founder and CEO of the Heart, a Warsaw-based European centre for corporate-startup collaboration, spoke to features editor Nicole Idar Lee about helping corporates develop “innovation muscles” and central Europe’s growing role as a digital sandbox for testing innovative ideas You set up the Heart after noticing that corporates were taking far too long… Continue reading Corporate-startup collaboration goes to the Heart
Author: Nicole Idar Lee
Let us roll before we can fly
Jon Lauckner, president of GM Ventures, Varun Jain, senior investment manager at Qualcomm Ventures and Raj Singh, managing director at JetBlue Technology Ventures, discuss why they believe autonomous ground-based vehicles will succeed more quickly than flying cars.
Airbus Ventures backs flying cars
Thomas d’Halluin, CEO of Airbus Ventures’ US office, shared with features editor Nicole Idar Lee a confident and well-argued view of the future of “urban air mobility”, which should include safe flying vehicles, and sooner than we think. Trained as an aerospace engineer, d’Halluin worked for Airbus in manufacturing, procurement, supply chain and finance roles… Continue reading Airbus Ventures backs flying cars
DIT showcases UK startups to drive investment
Paul Morris is investment director at the UK Department for International Trade (DIT)’s venture capital unit, which connects innovative UK companies seeking investment with corporate venturers and venture capital funds around the world. Morris worked in corporate venturing for more than 20 years, having spent most of that time running chemicals company Dow Chemical’s venturing… Continue reading DIT showcases UK startups to drive investment
Merck GHI eyes Europe’s clinical trial ecosystem
Francesca Wuttke joined Merck Global Health Innovation Fund (Merck GHI), the corporate venturing arm of US-based pharmaceutical firm Merck & Co, as managing director in May 2016. Tasked with identifying new opportunities in Europe, Wuttke, based in Barcelona, leads the fund’s European investments in digital healthcare technology. She spoke to features editor Nicole Idar Lee… Continue reading Merck GHI eyes Europe’s clinical trial ecosystem
Using machine learning to spot new brands
Ben Lee, managing director of funds at CircleUp, a US-based investment platform that connects early-stage consumer brands with investors, spoke to features editor Nicole Idar Lee
Customer choices – the key to innovation
Why do customers choose to buy one product or service rather than another? Clayton Christensen, the Harvard Business School professor who coined the phrase “disruptive innovation”, believes companies fail because they have neglected this critical question. In his new book – Competing Against Luck – Christensen argues that in order to innovate effectively, companies must… Continue reading Customer choices – the key to innovation
Borqs International books Qualcomm for $10m round
China-based internet-of-things (IoT) device developer Borqs International has closed a $10m series E round co-led by Qualcomm Ventures, mobile chipmaker Qualcomm’s corporate venturing unit, The Economic Times reported on Monday. Founded in 2007, Borqs provides smart connected devices and cloud services for the internet-of-things industry, and has research and development centres in Bangalore and Beijing.… Continue reading Borqs International books Qualcomm for $10m round
The visionary work of corporate venturing
Editorial from Nicole Idar Lee, features editor
Capitalising on AI in enterprise IT
Akihiko Sako, president and CEO of CAC Holdings, the holding company for enterprise IT services provider CAC Group, spoke to features editor Nicole Idar Lee about emotion recognition technology, growing opportunities in pharmaceutical outsourcing, and the search for healthcare IT assets in India and Southeast Asia
What emotion AI can teach us about human behaviour
Emotion recognition technology is transforming not just industries like robotics, gaming and automotives, but also our understanding of human behaviour
New focus on bringing corporate venturers together
Features editor Nicole Idar Lee spoke to industry veteran Janice Mawson, who now heads the GCV Leadership Society, which connects corporate venturers, entrepreneurs and other stakeholders in the innovation economy
Comcast Ventures adds value
Spotlight on diversity: Kai Bond, principal at Comcast Ventures and leader of the Comcast Ventures Catalyst Fund, spoke to Nicole Idar Lee about the importance of persistence as an entrepreneur of colour, his move from entrepreneur to investor and his interest in frontier tech
Intel Capital: investing in inclusion
Trina Van Pelt is vice-president and managing director of semiconductor manufacturer Intel’s corporate venturing unit, where she leads the internet-of-things and automated driving groups and co-leads the $125m Intel Capital Diversity Fund. She spoke to features editor Nicole Idar Lee about inclusion, encouraging portfolio companies to diversify their management teams and the satisfaction of helping… Continue reading Intel Capital: investing in inclusion