Insiders are concerned about the future of the corporate investment unit after the two senior-level departures.
Category: Region
Mitani to leave KDDI after four years
KDDI Open Innovation Fund’s director of investment, DK Mitani, will leave the firm next month for a new role based in Tokyo.
Rome’s airport operator announces early-stage fund
ADR Ventures will invest in travel, hospitality and aviation technology on behalf of Aeroporti di Roma and fund graduates of its Fiumicino Innovation Hub accelerator.
The Big Deal: Airline investors line up for CleanJoule’s aviation fuel
Frontier Airlines, Volaris and Wizz Air – none of which were CVCs two months ago – helped the startup raise $50m, but their purchasing power might end up being more important to the company’s future.
Wiszniewski joins Geschwister Oetker’s venture team
Sven Wiszniewski has worked in a variety of strategy and business development roles at German companies.
TotalEnergies shutters $400m investment arm
Venture firm Aster is reportedly buying TotalEnergies’ corporate VC portfolio following the oil and gas provider’s transition to accelerator actvities.
Baidu books $141m for generative AI startups
China’s Baidu is looking to build an ecosystem around its AI chatbot and app development platform with the newly launched Wenxin Investment Fund.
Thailand’s Innopower forms $100m investment fund
Equipped with $100m, Energy Ignition Ventures will make decarbonisation investments in sectors including agriculture, mobility and energy.
Fintech boom was just the start says Citi Ventures’ Purushotham
The head of Citi’s venturing unit talks about the explosive role of data in financial services and much more.
ServiceNow hikes CVC commitment to $1bn amid AI race
Digital workflow company ServiceNow is the latest tech company to up its corporate venturing budget to make sure it stays current on AI.
The Big Deal: Google backs Anthropic in the AI duel
Google’s second big investment in Anthropic in three months puts it head to head with Microsoft-backed OpenAI in the generative AI race.
Axa bets big on late stage with $1.6bn CVC initiative
Axa Venture Partners will invest nine-figure amounts through the new fund, which is expected to close in 2025 with its insurer parent putting up half the capital.
OpenAI Startup Fund raises over $175m
OpenAI Startup Fund has received $175m from 14 unnamed investors, surpassing its initial $100m target disclosed in May 2021.
Corporates help launch Gothenburg-focused fund
Volvo Cars, Stena Fastigheter and Framtiden Group-backed Destination Invest will support startups in unfavourable areas of the Swedish city.