From being a small gathering of people on the sidelines of the main venture capital events and never being invited onstage, CVCs have blossomed in the past decade. Fan Munce led the shift in professionalism and approach and became in 2012 the first CVC board member of US-based trade body National Venture Capital Association (NVCA) as well as later the inaugural chairwoman of the GCV Leadership Society Advisory Board.
The then-chairman of the NVCA was Scott Sandell, managing partner of NEA, who recognised the need and opportunity from bringing investors from all sections together. With one proviso: they had to being adding value to the entrepreneurs.
Sandell was one of the first VC leaders to visit the GCVI Summit in California and between 2016 and 2020’s events saw its growth to 900 people from about 350.
His changed mindset on how CVCs can be professional investors and add value crystallised the potential to form a community where the world’s best investors of all stripes can meet together and share best practices.
Sandell had hoped to tell his personal story of engagement with GCV in yesterday’s keynote but an accident to his beloved daughter, Anna, meant Fan Munce was able to kindly step in to spotlight how this can happen through a new Global Innovation Venturing platform and community.
NEA is taking steps to strengthen global relations with all sources of capital and Sandell will chair Global Innovation Venturing to bring in the world’s best VCs and other investors alongside the top 20% of CVCs grandfathered in through the GCV Leadership Society.
As VCs, such as Sequoia, Andreessen Horowitz, Khosla Ventures and Menlo Ventures as well as NEA, have hired in-house talent to spearhead corporate partnerships to support portfolio growth, so CVCs have become more experienced in delivering financial as well as strategic returns.
NEA, therefore, is at the forefront of the next venture business evolution and will develop Global Innovation Venturing’s advisory board to achieve five near term goals (January 2021 – June 2021):
• Community Commitment
Secure additional commitments to join Global Innovation Venturing (GIV) from institutional venture capital firms already working with GCV, including A16Z, Sequoia, Khosla, Lightspeed, Menlo, Greylock and DBL.
• Leadership & Governance
Coordinate a GIV Council representative of other venture firms to map out critical areas of focus, for example education around partnership models, innovation scaling approaches, deal source avenues, relationship best practices and subject matter commentary.
• NDA Sessions
Organize curated, private meetings for general partners, corporates, private equity, hedge, mutual and sovereign wealth funds, limited partners, and other funding sources supporting innovation to share insights (winning and challenging).
• Portfolio Company Enrichment
Connect CEOs and Founders of venture-backed startups with global funding sources for performance & follow-on round advancement
• General Assembly
Gather GIV community members as part of the Global Corporate Venturing & Innovation Summit on September 28-30, with a specific meeting in mid-July 2022 devoted to furthering the cause of Global Innovation Venturing.
