Corporate venture capital investors provided more than $7.5bn in funding over the course of 2015, the highest level since 2000, according to a report by PricewaterhouseCoopers and National Venture Capital Association (NVCA).
The MoneyTree Report stated that the capital was spread across 905 deals, which accounting for 13% of all VC funding in 2015 and 21% of all deals.
Software companies were the biggest recipients, attracting $2.5bn across 389 deals, and 10.5% of their venture funding was provided by corporates. Biotechnology developers secured $1.2bn across 133 deals, with corporates responsible for 16.7% of the VC money raised in the sector.
Industrial and energy companies meanwhile received $1.2bn from a total of 46 deals, with corporate venturing supplying almost 40% of the sector’s funding last year.
Bobby Franklin, president and chief executive of NVCA, said: “In keeping with the trend we witnessed throughout the year, corporate venture groups continue to play an increasingly active role the entrepreneurial ecosystem, seeing the merit in investing in startups to both fund innovation and meet their strategic goals.”