Global Corporate Venturing has carried out its first survey of early-stage participants. We had 114 respondents to the survey, with 70 corporates, and corporate-backed operations responding alongside some financially run accelerators, governments and others.
The world of universities has won the interest of nearly half those canvassed, with 48.1% of early-stage respondents to the report looking to the universities and business schools for portfolio companies. A further 37.7% look for spin-outs from universities.
Given this approach it is perhaps surprising that only 6% of groups said they had a specific university or academic liaison officer.
The most common approach remains to network in the entrepreneurial community, with 88.7% of respondents saying their principal hunting ground is the startup scene and entrepreneurial network.
And the scene is global to the most innovative corporations, with 35 out of 112 who responded to this question being active in early-stage entrepreneurship outside of their home continent.
The composition of respondents was varied, with 40.3% being corporate-backed and independent accelerators or incubators, 21.1% solely seed-stage investors, while 6.1% run an early-stage prize.
The portfolio companies of nearly a fifth (18.5%) of those contributing to the report have secured more than $500m in VC funding, while 19.2% have made a net asset value return of three times or greater. However, 51.3% have portfolio companies that have raised less than $10m, and 37% have a portfolio valued below cost.
Early-stage investors generally tend to pick businesses to discern their business model, with 65.2% looking at companies at pre-product or revenue stage, while only 25.9% look for profitable companies. However, only 28.6% accept executives only, generally expecting a company to have been formed.
There are various ways in which corporations run their accelerators – 44.6% run the accelerator themselves in some way, while the remainder look to independents to manage them.
There are multiple metrics early-stage investors use to measure their success, with 63.4% tracking their portfolio exits and survival rate, while 62.5% track startup valuations, 48.2% track partnership with the parent corporate, and 46.4% track revenue of the portfolio. Perhaps in reflection of the fast-changing composition of early-stage startups, only 20.5% track portfolio company team sizes.
There is a divide between those taking equity and those looking simply to foster the startup ecosystem, with only 22.8% offering soft benefits like such as mentoring or co-working, but 51.8% are investing more than $100,000 in portfolio companies.
Perhaps unsurprisingly, early-stage participants are generally looking for a return but also for wider outcomes, with 60% looking to achieve both strategic and financial goals.
A decent number of those involved at the early stage also invest at the later stage, with 44.6% of groups active at early stage also having a corporate venturing unit.
The trend is generally to deal with external businesses, with 81.6% opening up the cohort to those outside their company. At the same time most are not forcing collaboration with their parent, with only 12.6% mandating that those taking part must use their company technology.
There is a varied geographic spread, with 58.9% active in the US, 53.7% in Europe, 29.5% in Asia,
18.9% in South America, 11.6% in the Middle East, 10.5% in Australia and 7.4% in Africa.
Many are motivated by wider societal impact, with 47.9% of groups tackling quality of life and health themes, while 45.1% are interested in sustainability and the environment.
The hottest issues are securing the right kind of support from parents. Nearly a quarter of groups (23.7%) would like a more innovative leadership culture from their parent, while 22.4% would like greater financial investment.