The importance of corporations for venture capital is increasing, especially in respect to the number of deals they are involved in. At the same time, corporate venturing (CV) strategies have shifted from financial to more strategic objectives supporting the innovation process. This shift
has had no impact on the amount of funding but might explain the increasing share of deals with CV involvement, as many innovation-related objectives are based on deal diversity rather than deal size.
The research project, initiated by the Berlin Institute of Technology and the Steinbeis University in cooperation with the Berlin-based consultancy Trommsdorff & Drüner and Global Corporate Venturing, found the definition and measurement of success factors is the most critical issue in launching and running a successful CV unit.
This challenge intensifies as CV units shift their emphasis from purely financial to innovation-related goals. General developments, such as shorter technology lifecycles and the fragmentation of knowledge, are further challenging traditional processes.
Three-quarters of underperformers and only 22% of top performers regard the definition and measurement of success factors as a major challenge.
Financial returns do not make up the entire strategic value of CV activities.
Hence, this study approximates performance through a function of continuity and activity in an industry context. It is assumed the continuity of the CV units in the market and the respective current level of activity are reasonable proxies of the strategic value added to the corporation.
Firms would limit their venturing activity if there were of no value creation.
To control for differences between industries, the sample was segmented by investment focus, resulting in two clusters
– media, information and communication technology (MICT) and industry and consumer products and services (ICPS).
The MICT cluster is characterised by a larger deviation of activity and continuity and more venturing experience. Crucial success factors are evident in the following three phases of corporate venturing activity, as shown in the graph on the next page, which also presents the major results of the study:
l Strategic setup – the initial setup of objectives, process capabilities and respective performance measures.
l Investment process – from deal generation to external collaboration and communication.
l Internal collaboration – relationship to the corporate parent and its business units.
Strategic setup
Contrary to conventional wisdom, top performers tend to follow a wider range of innovation-related strategies rather than focusing on one core business line, while taking into account the importance of financial benefits.
This dual focus by top performers on financial and strategic objectives showcases both the multiple benefits of CV in the management of innovation, and the need for financial return to legitimate the venturing activities in the long run.
Top performers measure the impact of their CV activities by means of a clear set of either qualitative or quantitative key performance indicators with a long-term time horizon.
Accessing technological innovations is the major focus of all CV units. This underlines the role of such units in the management of innovation. Creating a "window on technology" is generally considered important, but is more relevant in the MICT cluster due to shorter technology life-cycles. In the ICPS cluster, top performers show a stronger focus on soft objectives related to image, culture and human resources.
One-tenth of the CV units in the ICPS cluster regard their processes as fast compared with 63% in the MICT cluster.
In the MICT cluster, process capabilities, in particular investment speed and process flexibility, are considered to be more relevant.
Investment process
Proactive and structured deal sourcing is broadly acknowledged as important. However, not all CV units appear to have long-term processes in this area. Deals are primarily sourced through personal networks, but top performers concentrate further on deal sourcing via syndication partners.
Only a minority of CV units involve a broad range of external partners on a continuous basis. Consequently few units carry out long-term planning in this regard. Top performers, however, involve selected external partners, such as CV units, venture capital firms (VCs), technology and industry specialists, business angels, consumers and lawyers in their investment decisions.
Furthermore, top-performing CV units have a much greater positive perception of the benefits of external collaborations. The potential in cooperation with universities, incubators and consumers remain largely untapped.
Apart from trust issues, the integration of external knowledge is perceived as the biggest challenge.
Top performers place the strongest focus on joint investments, as they have realised the value that is added by diversified CV support and deal evaluation. Compared with their independent counterparts, CV units focus slightly more on joint investments with VCs and other corporate investors. However, CV units are less than half as likely to take the lead in investments, a fact that can be explained by their traditional position as a subordinate body.
The industry context plays a major role in the type of support provided for portfolio companies. For example, marketing and human resources support is much more relevant in the ICPS cluster, as issues in this area are less often addressed, the required skills are more specialised and marketing is more complex. Innovation-related strategies are generally complemented by comprehensive support. This contradicts the common presumption that intensive support hampers innovation. The opportunities for the involvement of external partners in venture support are not yet fully exploited, particularly in comparison to IVCs. Most external support is provided by suppliers and other corporations and investors.
In line with their deal-sourcing behaviour, top performers use communication channels only for networking and for communication of their investments. The communication of deals via social media and a website aimed at network partners is a characterising feature of top performers. Similar to external collaborations, communication is most practised and desired in the MICT cluster.
In general the communication strategies seem to be underdeveloped, given the common focus of many CV units on public relations and the common deal-source structure, which is network focused.
Internal collaboration
It is in this phase that CV units differ most from independent VCs. Top performers stress the need for a strong cooperation between the business units and the CV unit. They understand the challenge of generating a long-term horizon of expectation within the corporation and of transferring the venturing output to the wider organisation.
Building strong ties to the corporate parent, which must be able to motivate business units to cooperate with the CV unit, is thus considered a major task by top performers.
Successful CV units score highly with their parents’ ability to manage expectation and create a long-term horizon for venturing activity.
Critical performance drivers are primarily within the strategic setup and internal collaboration stages. However, process phases such as deal sourcing and syndication also have a vital impact on performance. The relevance of certain success factors differs from industry to industry.
Outlook on venturing trends
This study also examined the attitude of venture capitalists towards new venture approaches.
Top performers show a much stronger ambition than underperformers to open up their processes by incorporating open innovation elements into their venturing approaches. They value approaches related to sourcing and nurturing seed and earlystage ventures, as well as networking with entrepreneurs and the global sourcing of new ideas.
New venturing approaches will rethink traditional deal sourcing, external collaboration and venture support models.
Although CV units show a positive attitude towards increased external collaboration and communication, especially in the MICT sector, they are less open than VCs. According to Steinbeis Universität Berlin Professor Marc Drüner: "CV units should make use of open innovation mechanisms to capitalise on internal and external deal sources and innovation hotspots." For this reason, processes integrating internal and external parties by collaboration and joint equity have to be established.
A workshop has been organised in Berlin for December to discuss the implications of the study results, including keynotes from leading practitioners and academics.
Contact Philipp Dauderstädt – pd@corporateventurestudy.com – for an invitation and for the detailed study results.
About the study
This international research project was initiated last year by Prof Volker Trommsdorff, Berlin Institute of Technology, and Prof Marc Drüner, Steinbeis University Berlin, in cooperation with innovation and marketing consultant Trommsdorff & Drüner. It is complemented by diploma and doctorate theses.
The study data originate from a comprehensive online survey of 19 CV units in eight countries, based on Global Corporate Venturing’s database. The questionnaire was based on a large number of focus interviews amongCV units and VCs. In addition, an adapted version conducted among almost 100 VCs.