A good gauge for a venture capital investor is amount invested in companies. By that metric, John Doherty, senior vice-president at Verizon, the US-based mobile phone operator, has led one of the country’s most successful and active venture firms. Last year, Verizon Ventures invested more than $125m in new and follow-on deals.
With more than $75m invested by Verizon Ventures in at least a dozen new deals, this was more than a quarter of the total raised by these companies, according to figures disclosed to GCV Analytics and based on its 2016 year in review, although there was a difference in timing between when Verizon closed its commitments and when deals were made public it said. These new deals included $4m in Israel-based Beamr Imaging, which has created video and image encoding and processing technology, virtual reality technology developer 8i, which raised $27m in its B round (made public in February but which closed in 2016 Verizon said), and a convertible note for electric bike service SwiftMile.
And Verizon Ventures stood by its existing portfolio, with more than $50m to 18 follow-on rounds last year, it disclosed to GCV Analytics. These follow-on deals included Payfone’s series E round (made public in January) and $12m in mobile marketing company Kiip’s C round.
But for corporate venturers, dealflow is just one metric, even if it was “a record number of investments,” the company said in its annual review. The review added: “Verizon Ventures continues to be committed to providing its portfolio with resources to scale and develop key business partnerships. In 2016, Verizon Ventures portfolio companies PrecisionHawk and Skyward partnered to offer a full commercial drone service.”
This partnership was the first “integration point between two Verizon Ventures portfolio companies”. Verizon then bought Skyward in February after its ventures unit had reinvested in the portfolio company last year through a convertible note.
Last year, Verizon Ventures set up a team “dedicated to strengthening relationships and furthering commercial opportunities between the portfolio and our business units” and under Doherty has focused increased efforts on supporting portfolio companies.
It hosted Venture Forum and Startup Day events that provided the portfolio opportunities to meet and exchange ideas with Verizon senior leadership and relevant product teams, its spokesman said. He added Verizon Ventures also implemented online collaboration tools to share information and build community among the portfolio, showcased portfolio company product demonstrations in its two innovation centres, which host more than 600 client visits annually, and through marketing and public relations and sponsored venture accelerator programs in the areas of internet-of-things and mobility that connected early stage startups in those areas to our business units.
Doherty has been responsible for all corporate development activities related to the implementation of Verizon’s corporate strategy, including joint ventures, strategic investments, acquisitions, divestitures and venture investments, since the start of 2013.
Doherty had joined Verizon a decade earlier in 2003 as chief financial officer and vice-president and led strategic repositioning of Verizon’s $10bn global portfolio, including more than 20 transactions valued at over $4bn.
Over the past decade Verizon Ventures has worked with more than 50 companies covering a range of industries, technologies and market segments.