Lak Ananth has been chief executive and managing partner of Next47, the US-based corporate venturing arm of Germany-headquartered industrial conglomerate Siemens, since the unit was formed in October 2016.
Next47 has backed more than 30 companies developing deep technologies including artificial intelligence (AI), augmented and virtual reality, cybersecurity, autonomous transportation, the internet of things, robotics, advanced manufacturing and automation.
Most recently, the unit provided funding for data privacy technology developer DataGrail, recurring revenue trading platform Pipe, autonomous drone technology developer Skydio and email security software provider Armorblox.
Rounds raised by air freight booking platform Cargo.one, virtual event platform developer Bizzabo, call centre technology developer Oberve.AI and industrial internet-of-things analytics software provider Seeq were also among the unit’s recent investments.
Next47 has positioned itself as more independent of Siemens’s business units and an evergreen fund able to reinvest profits from its €1bn ($1.2bn) fund. The fund has a three Cs model – providing capital, creating intrapreneurs through the Next47 Accelerator which they run in partnership with Alchemist.
For his Powerlist profile in 2017, Ananth said: “As a Siemens subsidiary, we have both an external and an internal vision. The external vision is to be the world’s premium address for ventures between corporates and startups, as well as a role model for open innovation. The internal vision is to shape Siemens’s core businesses of tomorrow.”
Regarding his team, Ananth said on Next47’s website: “Our team is a mix of world class investment and operating talent. Their common thread is a shared passion for helping founders build the companies that will define the next generation of global innovation.”
They include general partners Matthew Cowan and TJ Rylander, as well as partners Lidiya Dervisheva, Ching-Yu Hu, Daniel Kirchleitner, Debjit Mukerji, Micah Smurthwaite, Jason Sydow, Gert Wrigge and Moshe Zilberstein.
Prior to joining Next47, Ananth founded and built Hewlett Packard Pathfinder, the corporate venturing arm of computing technology producer Hewlett Packard Enterprise (HPE), bringing together venture investing and revenue-generating business development for portfolio companies from HPE customers.
Ananth was an investor in cloud security software provider Adallom (acquired by software producer Microsoft), big data processing platform operator HortonWorks (acquired by enterprise data software provider Cloudera) and D2iQ, the cloud software and services provider formerly known as Mesosphere.
He also previously worked in strategy at networking equipment supplier Cisco Systems, where he led the acquisitions of cloud service Meraki and IT and networking products maker Starent Networks, and invested in automation provider Control4.
