Brad McManus (pictured), head of the Panasonic Venture Group (PVG), the corporate venturing unit of the eponymous Japan-based consumer electronics company, has left to form a firm planning to manage funds on behalf of corporations.
McManus will remain a consultant to Panasonic for the next 18 months.
He spent more than a decade as a US-based director of PVG which aimed to create innovation-based collaborations with venture-backed companies and gain financial returns from its venture investments.
As well as being senior adviser on Panasonic’s $30m investment in electric car maker Tesla Motors, McManus said his portfolio had included Kovio, Entropic, Techwell, P-Cube, Ikanos, Gracenote, Pixel Optics, Ooyala and SBA Materials.
In an email, he said: “The time has come for me to leave Panasonic, where I have worked with the venture group for over 11 years. During this span of my career I have tried to bring innovation to Panasonic and influence the culture of thinking through the implementation of open innovation and venturing practices….
“The knowledge and experience that I have acquired over the past decade will be the basis for launching a new corporate venture organization, which is called Capbridge Group. Capbridge will provide strategic venture investment management to multiple corporations in targeted verticals.”
He added these verticals would often be adjacent rather than core for its clients as they look to advance strategic growth plans by looking in new market areas. He gave as examples the automotive original equipment manufacturers looking to monetarise their vehicle experience in other areas, media, consumer convergence, digital health, energy and recycling.
He said Capbridge would look to manage two to three funds of between $50m and $100m each at the same time where a specific fund manager would be complemented by a alliance manager to handle the strategic engagement and communication with the corporations.
McManus said: “It will be a competitive advantage to us to have these corporate limited partners [in looking for deals] and we can provide information back on how to engage with start-ups.”