InMotion Ventures was launched by automotive manufacturer Jaguar Land Rover (JLR) in 2016. Over the past 12 months, the unit has taken a big step forward under Mike Smeed, closing 16 investments compared with four during the previous two years.
The unit is also bedding in a new team. “Just 15 months ago we really did not exist as a team,” says Smeed. “Nothing in InMotion Ventures has really been untouched over the course of the year, even to the extent we are in a new office. We have completely revised our investment thesis and introduced new governance.”
Smeed took charge at InMotion in late 2022, having logged five years at JLR, most recently as vice president of finance for a joint venture the company set up with China-based carmaker Chery Automobile. The unit has a three-pronged focus that spreads across climate, industrial and enterprise technologies and it targets startups that can support JLR’s ongoing digital transformation.
“The value we can add to startups and to JLR is more at that early stage – seed and series A – and we have made a few pre-seed investments as well”
About 90% of InMotion’s portfolio companies are currently engaged with the company, with 70% going through the procurement process, while 20% have a firm commercial agreement in place. Smeed wants to see that rise to 50% in the next 12 months.
“We spent a lot of time last year really figuring out that our real USP was in early-stage investing,” he says. “The value we can add to startups and to JLR is more at that early stage – seed and series A – and we have made a few pre-seed investments as well.
“That has been a real change for us, and it has been reflected in what we hear people in the market saying about us. In the same way as we do diligence on founders, they are doing diligence on CVC units and figuring out who is adding value, who are the ones that are good to work with. We are interested in exceptional founders, the same as every other CVC and VC, and so the balance of power really lies with them.”
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