Denmark-based industrial conglomerate Danfoss has closed its corporate venturing division and its managing director is leaving the private group.
Stig Poulsen, managing director of Danfoss Ventures, has decided to leave the group after a transition period following the company’s reorganisation of its corporate venturing division to concentrate more on internal innovation, the company said. Poulsen was unavailable to comment by email.
Danfoss will train more employees to become so-called "intrapreneurs" in its annual Man on the Moon competition and help upcoming enterprises with its Mads Clausen Entrepreneur Park and the Trusted by Danfoss programme.
In a statement, Danfoss said: "Innovative ideas and products must grow out of the core businesses to an even higher degree and benefit customers even quicker. This is why Danfoss now reorganises its corporate ventures function. Nine of 13 employees from the company Danfoss Ventures have found new employment in the core businesses, while four employees have been made redundant.
Danfoss Ventures will continue as a holding company, Danfoss Development, for its shares in the third-party companies it backed, although this has been cut over the past six months as the company concentrated on its main businesses.
In this period, Danfoss has reduced its share of ownership in Danfoss IXA and withdrew from AquaZ, which was subsequently refinanced by new investors.
Nis Storgaard, executive vice president and chief development officer at Danfoss, said: "The past few years’ development has sharpened our understanding of how important innovation is – but also of how important it is to prioritise investments where they make most difference. And for us this is in our core businesses that have the knowledge of customers and markets as well as the required competences to turn innovative ideas into good business."
Last year Danfoss invested 4.8% of its revenues, about DKr1.2bn ($205m), in development and innovation.