Artificial intelligence has become one of the biggest attractions for corporate investors, and Tamara Steffens, managing director of Thomson Reuters’ corporate venture arm, TR Ventures, is equally excited about the technology. “AI is going to have solid longevity with new technology using AI for many years. It has taken off and the timing for venture capital is perfect, as it relates to how AI will be applied to solve the next 20 years of what is happening in the workplace.”
“You have to run a corporate fund in the same fashion you would run a traditional VC, because you will make the best investments when you get a great financial return.”
Steffens entered the business development field while working at Microsoft. She joined Microsoft’s corporate venturing arm, M12, where she led investments in North America, Southeast Asia and India. “I ran that fund for three years until Thomson Reuters asked me if I wanted to start the fund at TR Ventures. I liked how financially focused the TR Ventures fund was, so I was keen to start it from scratch,” she says.
Founded in 2021, TR Ventures is a $100m evergreen fund that invests in seed to series A startups. The firm has done 15 investments in its first two years with notable investments including Northstar, Detected and Materia.
It can be difficult to balance investing in new technologies and avoiding competition with the mothership, she says: “There is a chance for competitive overlap and conflict when you plan to invest in various startups. We try not to invest in competitive technology, so we do not end up competing against one of our portfolio companies. But it is difficult because there is a lot of good technology and some that might be better than something we have in-house.”
Steffens’s advice to new corporate venturers is to make every investment through a financial lens. “You have to run a corporate fund in the same fashion you would run a traditional VC, because you will make the best investments when you get a great financial return,” she says.
See the full list of GCV Emerging Leaders for 2024 here.