Derek Idemoto is senior vice-president (SVP) of corporate development and Cisco Investments, the corporate venture capital (CVC) and strategic acquisitions arm of networking equipment manufacturer Cisco.
Since joining Cisco in 2007, Idemoto has spearheaded more than 100 acquisitions and investments totalling over $20bn. He shapes Cisco’s technology strategy and approach to harnessing external innovation in the startup ecosystem, having driven acquisitions and investments across the corporate’s cybersecurity, service provider, services, silicon, collaboration and data and analytics businesses.
Over the past year, Cisco Investments has remained an active investor across multiple verticals in the enterprise technology industry. In 2021, the unit expanded its 100-strong portfolio by investing in over 30 diverse startups and venture funds. Some of its investments in 2021 include Expel, Securiti, JupiterOne, Qwilt, Seeq, Theta Lake and Uniphore, among many others.
In addition, Decibel – an independent VC firm created in partnership with Cisco – led 22 investments in seed and series A-stage companies last year in areas of modern engineering platforms, open-source software, machine learning and artificial intelligence infrastructure, data engineering and cybersecurity.
In 2020, Idemoto also spearheaded the launch of the Aspire Fund, an initial commitment by Cisco Investments to invest $50m into diverse-led startups and venture funds over five years. Since launching the fund, Cisco Investments has invested in several diverse-led venture funds and startups led by black, Latino, Asian, female founders and CEOs.
Before joining Cisco, Idemoto was managing director of venture investment for Itochu Technology, the CVC arm of trading group Itochu Corporation. During his tenure, he led IT investments for the company, including those related to communication, software, services, digital media and the internet.
