Germany-based chemicals company Evonik has hired Bernhard Mohr (pictured) from local peer BASF to head up its inaugural €100m ($130m) corporate venturing fund.
Evonik’s new Corporate Venturing unit will be within its Innovation Management division and invest in start-ups and venture capital firms across Europe, the US and Asia.
Patrik Wohlhauser, a member of Evonik’s executive board, said: "Corporate venturing supplements the group’s existing innovation processes and structures in an ideal way. The goal of our innovation activities is to maintain and expand our high technological competence over the long run.
"With corporate venturing we are supplementing our approach with open innovation and creating excellent opportunities for accelerating the development of new businesses and opening up future growth fields."
Peter Nagler, chief innovation officer at Evonik, added: "Our venture capital investments in innovative ideas and solutions will be oriented toward the megatrends important for Evonik: resource efficiency, health, nutrition, and globalization."
Mohr, who had spent more than five years as a senior investment manager at BASF Venture Capital, said: "We want to be a reliable partner for our venture investments and support their successful growth not only financially, but also with technical expertise and strategic insight. And we want to benefit in the process as well."