Steve Romine is managing director of Bose Ventures, the corporate venturing unit of US-based Bose Corporation.
He said: “I have been at Bose for over 13 years and was responsible for starting Bose Ventures, as well as our corporate development function at Bose. I presented the concept of Bose Ventures to Bose’s board in March 2017 and they approved its creation. We launched it in May that year.
“I believe in the power and effectiveness of the start-up ecosystem to innovate. I saw that a well-constructed CVC enables a large company to develop sources of valuable innovation by investing in and supporting startups. When a CVC operates properly, it can deliver tremendous value to the parent corporation and its portfolio companies.
“We made an early investment in a company called Hush, a small company in San Diego that was about to launch the world’s first active earplug – a device that protected sleep by masking noise from loud neighbours, snoring spouses and so on. We invested and helped them launch their minimum viable product.
“Along the way our business lead built a relationship with the founders. The Bose business unit was so impressed with the team and technology that they decided to acquire Hush. Bose wrapped a full team around the Hush founders, fixed the problems with the minimum viable product, and recently launched the Bose Sleepbuds, the Bose version of Hush. This was a huge strategic win for Bose Ventures.
“I have a legal background and, prior to starting Bose Ventures, I built Bose’s intellectual property department.”
