The value of exits from corporate venturing firms exceeded the disclosed investments into portfolio companies in October, according to research by Global Corporate Venturing.
With at least 10 exits, including three flotations, the value of the company exit prices was about $1.8bn.
The initial public offerings raised more than $2.2bn, including the UK listing of gambling group Betfair, which was backed by Japan’s Softbank.
The largest disclosed exit was General Electric’s purchase of healthcare company Clarient for $580m.
The investments were led by the healthcare sector with 14 deals, followed by information technology with 10. The big rounds of the month included Brazil-based generic drugs company Moksha8’s $61m, $75m for Europe’s Immatics Biotechnologies and $50m for AppNexus from a consortium including software company Microsoft.
The big fundraising announcements were led by a pack of social media companies cornerstoning venture capital firm Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers’s $250m sFund, Belgium chemicals company Solvay supporting a Korean nanotechnology fund, Germany-based power group RWE formalising its corporate venturing operations into a fund and education firm Houghton Mifflin opening its $100m fund to external innovators.