Qualcomm Ventures is, compared with most corporate venture capital units, mature. Set up in 2000, the unit has successfully weathered the 2008 crash, CEO changes, and head of unit changes. How does it operate and maintain success? Li said: “We have been in business for 18 years. We have been very consistent with our strategy… Continue reading Interview: Quinn Li, Qualcomm Ventures
Category: Comment
Teamwork scores for the innovation ecosystem
July – August issue editorial by James Mawson, editor-in-chief
Interview: Caruso channels media’s future
Digitisation is fundamentally changing the media industry – as Global Corporate Venturing reported in Last month’s issue. Consumption preferences have shifted already, with digital subscriptions and on-demand programming eating into the market for printed newspapers, broadcast TV and radio. Content delivery models have also morphed, from a linear relationship between the consumer and a platform… Continue reading Interview: Caruso channels media’s future
Focus: Artificial intelligence
Artificial intelligence (AI) is predicted to be the next disruptive wave in media and society more generally
Keynote: Corporate venturing and sustainable goals
Unable to attend the symposium for health reasons, Lorna Davis (pictured), senior adviser to Emmanuel Faber, CEO of packaged food supplier Danone, gave a keynote speech through video call, stressing the value of the B Corporation (B Corp) sustainability movement ahead of an afternoon session of unpanels on the UN’s sustainable development goals moderated by… Continue reading Keynote: Corporate venturing and sustainable goals
Debate: In pursuit of corporate venturing’s end-to-end value
Intel’s Bryan Wolf and Mike Wall, CEO of Intel Capital portfolio companies Amplidata and Atempo, discuss the value CVCs can provide over a company’s lifecycle. Their conversation illustrates the value corporate investors bring to entrepreneurs – savvy CEOs recognise this and bring corporate investors in early, rather than waiting for a strategic round. Wolf: Let’s… Continue reading Debate: In pursuit of corporate venturing’s end-to-end value
The added value in bringing corporate venturers together
In 2017, Bell Mason Group (BMG) and GCV launched the CVC Trends & Insights project, an annual qualitative research initiative designed to “get in front of the data”. The inaugural report capped a look at five years of explosive CVC growth, highlighting the professionalisation of CVC as a speciality practice with defined roles and compensation… Continue reading The added value in bringing corporate venturers together
Mideast corporates need to get into venture capital
Badr Jafar, Crescent Enterprises, suggests that while the number of globally active CVCs is on the rise, in the Middle East CVCs are yet to be properly directed to benefit the start-up community.
Corporate venturing: a David and Goliath collaboration
Corporate venture capital, scouting missions, hackathons, excubators, venture clients, corporate incubators and accelerators – these are just some of the models for collaboration between large companies and startups. The practice – corporate venturing – has been adopted by firms such as Siemens, General Electric, IBM, Xerox, Merck and Lucent. There has been significant growth in… Continue reading Corporate venturing: a David and Goliath collaboration
Why corporate venture?
Alex Dundson of SaatchInvest has asked the question: “What does corporate venture really do?” Corporate venture’s most useful role is a sensing function. It gives corporates a good roadmap for the future. This is the most important function, especially in times of technology change. For opportunity spaces which are new markets or enabled by new… Continue reading Why corporate venture?
How smart technologies are transforming life and business
Erik Vermeulen, Tilburg University, discusses the future of smart technologies.
CVC vs R&D – the good, the bad, and the ugly
When corporate innovative spirit goes stale, many corporations turn for their innovative ideas elsewhere. One popular source of new ideas and technologies is startups that may have the know-how but lack the complementary assets to see the new technology to fruition. Corporations create special corporate venture capital programs to invest in startups – much like… Continue reading CVC vs R&D – the good, the bad, and the ugly
Interview: Roel Bulthuis, Merck
How do you feel that the venture unit has changed the parent, particularly given how long you have been at Merck? I started this venture unit as part of Merck, and as a pure-play healthcare therapeutics focused fund, investing strategically for the benefit of Merck’s pharma business. It improved the reputation of the corporate to… Continue reading Interview: Roel Bulthuis, Merck
Interview: William Taranto, Merck & Co
How has the fund changed Merck & Co, and, particularly given the length of time you have been there, what changes have you found rewarding? Not a lot has change with the fund since we started in 2010. The subtle change to the fund is around our strategy. When we first launched, the goal was… Continue reading Interview: William Taranto, Merck & Co