Courtney Robinson is a founder and partner at Advance Venture Partners (AVP, formerly Advance Vixeid Partners,) the independent but collaborative corporate venturing unit of US-based media holding company Advance Publications.
Previously a principal at American Express Ventures, and prior to that in investment banking, Robinson has the financial expertise to go alongside the business acumen required.
In March last year, AVP was revealed as a shareholder in Evrything, a UK-based internet-of-things technology developer backed by electronics producer Samsung, although no further details were released.
In July, AVP led a series E round for US-based cybersecurity technology producer HyTrust, totalling $36m.
Previously nominated for GCV’s Rising Stars, she has spoken about the ability to make decisions autonomously, without Advance Publications’ business units getting in the way, and how that benefits them both. “Many of the biggest challenges in corporate venturing are related to the sponsorship model.
“There is a fundamental disconnect between business units, who are focused on delivering results for this quarter or year, and corporate venture units that are thinking about how the world will look in five to 10 years.
“There are several examples of this structure preventing investments in companies that will go on to produce outsized returns.
“Part of what attracted me to the opportunity at AVP is that we made the decision, along with Advance, to operate outside of this structure and make decisions autonomous among our small team.”
That decision-making process has seen AVP lead multiple deals, focused on consumer-focused technology companies. In August, AVP led the $6m round for US-based personalised children’s learning marketplace and software tool developer Sawyer.
In October, AVP led a $17m series C round for US-based on-demand childcare provider UrbanSitter.
In December, Modsy, a customer-oriented 3D-imaging interior design startup announced that AVP had led a series B round of funding worth $23m.
AVP has seen past deals return cash last year, with the fund bolstered by its exit from customer management platform Gigya alongside Intel and Adobe in September, as SAP bought the firm at a valuation of $350m, up $100m from when AVP first invested in 2014.
Before joining Amex Ventures, Robinson worked at Plum District, a local commerce company targeting the amom and family vertical’, for less than a year in 2011. She started her career in investment banking at GCA Savvian after going to Columbia University to study economics, “where I played varsity field hockey”.