They say A-grade managers attract a similar calibre of employee. If so, Simon Venture Group (SVG), the corporate venture capital unit of Simon Property Group, a Standard & Poor’s 100 company and the largest real estate company in the world, could be one to watch out for given Natalie Hwang’s recruitment in August.
She joined as an investment principal working with Skyler Fernandes, who struck his unit’s first 20 deals in its first 20 months “largely as a one-man army,” he said.
Hwang has kept up the pace. She said she had added “two highly competitive deals onto our platform in the first three months of my tenure with SVG.
“In both cases, we motivated investment alongside top flight firms including NEA, Upfront Ventures, Revolution Ventures, Thrive Capital and Science to name but a few.
“These companies are representative of an overarching investment philosophy I have developed and implemented as part of SVG’s criteria for evaluating our consumer-facing commerce investments. I believe this is unique for this space and at its core, focuses on capital efficiency, impressive but responsible revenue growth, reasonable valuations, thoughtful capital structures and brand defensibility.”
After four years as an associate at white shoe law firm Simpson Thacher & Bartlett then more than five years at alternative investments firm Blackstone Group as a vice-president responsible for seeding asset managers, Hwang is confident in her own abilities.
In her spare time while at Blackstone, she ran her own personal seed fund to focus on investing in companies that were innovating at the intersection of commerce and technology. Earlier, she was awarded highest honours and awarded the best honours thesis during her BA from Duke University.
Fernandes, himself likely to be the youngest person in the country to run a corporate venture group for an S&P 100 company, said: “Natalie was screened out of 546 candidates. I was impressed by her knowledge of the space and background in investing as an angel. She also has a high degree of intellectual curiosity. We make a great team.”
Screening more than 500 candidates is a big task, but such commitment to pinpointing the best talent is also evident in the level of research SVG has put in to build its deal platform.
Hwang said: “I understand the unique challenges involved with building a defensible asset management business from the ground up. Critical to that effort is the build out of a best in class operational and control policy infrastructure that incorporates industry best practices, sophisticated research capabilities, proprietary sourcing and a holistic approach to risk management.
“We invest across stages from seed to series C+ with average cheque sizes ranging from $250,000 to $5m. Our vertical focuses span all categories that are relevant to retail, including compelling brand platforms, online marketplaces, in-store and online technology, connected devices, internet of things, wearable technology, payments solutions, marketing tech, and infrastructure tech to name a few.
“Our value proposition is unique in the venture space in that that we are able to leverage our relationship with Simon Property Group to serve as a one-stop contact for accessing the retail ecosystem.“
However, SVG has found the conversation with VCs and entrepreneurs challenging. Hwang said: “Corporate venture capital (CVC) has matured significantly as an industry and yet the bias against corporate VCs remain largely unchanged. The conversation has largely been a one-sided dialogue with non-CVCs controlling, influencing and benchmarking the performance of CVCs to potentially deleverage our position in the innovation economy.
“CVCs could dramatically enhance our overall profile and competitive positioning in the venture space by owning more of the conversation and educating the public on the strides that we have made as an industry.”