Greg Fleming is investment director of Air Liquide Venture Capital, the corporate venturing arm of Air Liquide, a French multinational company supplying industrial gases and services to industries including medical, chemical and electronic manufacturers.
In 2011, he was based in Paris running the open innovation team. One objective was exploring how Air Liquide should interact with the startup world. After running trials on collaborating with startups, Fleming and several other colleagues decided to form a venture capital team. They received the buy-in of the CEO to create a strategically linked team and thus became the investment director of Air Liquide. This led to his current position when the external venture arm was formed in 2012 and began making its fi rst investments in 2013.
“The discussion is about whether or not the strategic relationship is big enough or important enough for them to accept us and our modest investment.”
The team now numbers 10 and has made more than 40 investments since inception. Air Liquide’s main objectives are to create technological, strategic and financial opportunities for both startups and Air Liquide. It invests in clean technologies to reach net-zero carbon emissions. Investments are focused around three broad themes: climate tech, health tech and industrial innovation. The venture unit has an evergreen fund that makes minority investments. It participates in rounds from seed to growth stage.
Fleming reflects on the dramatic change he has seen in the venture unit’s areas of interest. Air Liquide Venture Capital was one of the few players in its field, but now startups are much more sought after.
“The discussion is about whether or not the strategic relationship is big enough or important enough for them to accept us and our modest investment.”
Air Liquide is watching trends in the value chain in the CO2 space. It recently made an investment in startup 44.01, which announced at COP28 the launch of CO2 injection and mineralisation activities in Oman and the United Arab Emirates.