Our Global Corporate Venturing Symposium gathered 450 people in London last week in the world’s biggest corporate venturing event.
Hopes are riding high that corporate venturing is entering a mature phase, with an increased sophistication evident in the way many in attendance are tapping innovation from the entrepreneurial ecosystem. As industry veteran consultant Heidi Mason said: “This may be the most exciting time in CVC’s long history.” To get a feel for the mood, watch this three minute video.
There is much to cheer, with those in corporate venturing clearly developing an understanding as to how to take the industry forward. That said, the sheer number of new entrants, with a doubling in the industry’s size over the last five year, also means many working in corporate venturing have much to learn.
The event saw appearances from luminaries in the industry. The Global Corporate Venturing news team wrote up these appearances. Highlights included a fireside chat between Arvind Sodhani, head of Intel Capital and Claudia Fan Munce, head of IBM Venture Capital and the chair of our advisory board, a robust discussion of the role of women in technology by Tracy Isacke, SVB, Lisa Lambert, Upward, and Eileen Tanghal, ARM, as well as Ralf Schnell, Siemens Venture Capital, Jon Lauckner, GM Ventures, George Coyle, ConocoPhillips Technology Ventures, and Bo Ilsoe, Nokia Growth Partners talking about the conference’s theme, the tipping point in corporate venturing. You can read all 18 write-ups from the event, our awards coverage and all last week’s news in our special news round-up out today.
It seems clear corporate venturing’s tipping point appears to have arrived, with the discipline looking set to cement itself as a fundamental part of corporate strategy. That said, corporate venturing has historically been a cyclical endeavour, so the hope is events like our conference will transmit the knowledge for those involved in corporate venturing to be able to make it a long-term pursuit. It would be a shame to see today’s tipping point fizzle out.