Software company ServiceNow committed $1bn last year to its corporate venturing arm ServiceNow Ventures, and Vaibhav Narayanam, senior director of corporate development and venture investments, has the challenge of deploying the capital by 2026 to fuel innovation in enterprise software.
ServiceNow Ventures has invested $300m since its inception in 2015, so the additional $1bn represents a more than quadrupling of its spending power. Like many corporate investors in the software platform market, the company is investing to grow the ecosystem of software companies that can use and build on its platform.
This year, it made a strategic investment into Neuron7, a platform that uses AI to resolve complex issues fast and improve customer experiences. Neuron7 also launched its product Resolution Intelligence on the ServiceNow store. The team also participated, alongside Salesforce Ventures, in the $16m series A round of Logik.io, which uses AI to help business-to-business companies sell complex products more easily.
ServiceNow Ventures also backed a late-staged round for Boston-based cloud security company Snyk.
The team mainly focuses on mid to late-stage companies in the enterprise software space, specifically AI and machine learning as well as data, distributed cloud and automation software. The unit has 49 companies in the portfolio, including financial management software company Proven Optics, where Narayanam sits on the board as an observer. The unit has had six exits to date.
Like many corporate investors in the software platform market, the company is investing to grow
the ecosystem of software companies that can use and build on its platform.
Narayanam started in technology investment banking and private equity, before starting at ServiceNow in 2018. He was appointed senior director of corporate development and venture investments in March 2023. Narayanam has a degree in electrical computer engineering and economics from Duke University.
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