Paul Morris, corporate venture capital adviser at the UK Department for International Trade’s Venture Capital Unit, has been elected president of the Global Government Venturing Leadership Society.
The leadership society will serve as a vehicle to connect corporate venturing units to contacts within the governments of countries in which CVCs wish to invest, and will also act as a local contact point for nascent corporate venturing networks.
The society’s launch took place at an invitation-only workshop held at the Global Corporate Venturing & Innovation (GCVI) Summit in Sonoma, California on January 25. The workshop welcomed about 20 government representatives from around the globe, including the state of California – which would be the world’s eighth-largest economy if it were an independent country – as well as multilateral organisation the UN, and countries such as Australia, Austria, Belgium, Brazil, Canada, China, Germany, Ghana, Finland, the Netherlands, Russia, the US and the UK.
The move to form the society follows a key event that took place just ahead of the GCVI Summit – the signing of the first letter of intent between California and the Netherlands to create a platform to support entrepreneurs in both regions with innovation capital funding and support. Other governments have expressed interest in following a similar path, according to Jan Dexel, senior policy adviser and program manager of venture capital at the Dutch Ministry of Economic Affairs, and Teveia Barnes, executive director at California Infrastructure and Economic Development Bank, the state of California’s only general purpose financing authority.
Workshop attendees agreed either to serve as a point person or to try to find someone with whom local and international CVCs in their country or region can connect.
On the main GCVI Summit stage, corporate venturers were invited to suggest other industry professionals who might be interested in joining the society. CVCs were also invited to provide feedback on how the society might best serve their local ecosystem.
An update on actions will be provided at the annual GCV Symposium in London on May 23.
James Mawson, editor-in-chief of Global Corporate Venturing, will act as initial contact person for those interested in joining the society. Contact jmawson@mawsonia.com for more details.
