Nicolas Sauvage serves as president for TDK Ventures, the corporate venture capital (CVC) arm of Japan-headquartered electronics manufacturer TDK Corporation.
TDK Ventures is a technology-focused venture fund based in San Jose, California and Boston, Massachusetts. Sauvage explained: “We invest globally in seed and early-stage startups that leverage fundamental materials science to unlock an attractive and sustainable future for the world.”
TDK Ventures, launched in July 2019, is an independent financial CVC with 2X fund return and 15% IRR financial target. TDK Ventures Inc is a C Corp company with Nicolas Sauvage as president and chairman of board. Fund 1 and fund 2 are single limited partnership fund with TDK as the LP.
TDK president and chief executive Shigenao Ishiguro said in April 2021: “When we launched TDK Ventures in 2019 our first corporate venture company in 85 years’ existence of TDK, I never expected so many learnings and strategic value Nicolas with his team have completely surpassed my highest expectations, bringing actionable learnings in very important topics for TDK, such as cleantech, mobility, advanced materials and distributed manufacturing. Through its CVC activities to date, TDK has invested in 15 companies, funding the top hard tech entrepreneurs all passionate to contribute to society and make our planet a better place, alongside the best VCs and CVCs in the world This is why I fully supported, and our board of directors unanimously approved, the launch of our second fund TDK is just getting started with corporate venture capital activities and will continue to play our part in contributing to technologies that will create a sustainable and attractive future for the world.”
Regarding Sauvage, Paul Holland, venture capital group Mach49’s VC-in-residence and managing director overseeing its corporate investing practice, said: “Nicolas has emerged as one of the very top leaders in corporate venture in just two short years.
“The TDK exec team and board have appreciated the strategic value they already received, and they acknowledged Nicolas’ accomplishments internally, and publicly, including their CEO Ishiguro-san writing to Forbes: ‘Nicolas with his team have completely surpassed my highest expectations’. And they approved a tripling of the first fund in Fund Two.
“I have engaged with Nicolas nearly every week for the past three years, and got to know him very well and see how he works, thinks, cares and coaches. He brings a unique combination of traits that separates him from other CVC leaders, and make him one of the top players in CVC:
“Determination: Nicolas encountered ‘No’ many times in his journey to build TDK Ventures but always heard it as an opportunity to engage more fully on the concept with his exec team
“Optimism: To be good at venture capital you need a certain sense of optimism. Benchmark Capital had an expression they used: ‘What can go right’ with a new venture. Nicolas has the ability to see over the horizon to a very positive future for these early-stage startups.
“Knowledge: Nicolas is intimately familiar with all the skills, capabilities and key people at TDK and he has proven to be especially adept at delivering ‘value from the mothership’ to his portfolio companies.
“Finally and importantly, he has recruited and coached an incredible team and based on the results of TDK Fund One, Nicolas has presided over one of the best starts in the history of CVC. In addition, at the current course and speed, nearly 25% of TDK’s investment have already or soon will become unicorns.
“Simply put, Nicolas is on the way to becoming one of the top venture capitalists, period.”
Kevin Ye, partner of corporate investing at Mach49, also said: “First off, if we consider the remarkable pathway that TDK Ventures has gone through, the track record and feature in Forbes alone should qualify him. Nicolas has guided TDK Ventures from inception as just an idea in his brain to where they are today, quadrupling their AUM in a little less than two years off a robust portfolio (with multiple exits already) that raves about the strategic value they have gained TDK’s brand and business units. I have never seen progress at this speed or efficacy in any CVC before, let alone a traditional VC, and this is all because of Nicolas’ steady hand at the helm.
“Second, as we know, one of the unique challenges a CVC has to deal with is mothership management, and it is an area where even the top dealmakers and MDs within corporate venturing can struggle with, but it is an area where I really see Nicolas paving the path with best practices that even other candidates on the GCV Powerlist should learn from. Having been a part of TDK’s partner meetings, I am constantly impressed at how Nicolas effectively leverages all the internal resources available to him to help his team make the right decisions, from being maniacally diligent about pulling in the right technology experts to making sure that everyone on the deal review call gives multiple points of feedback for his deal leads.
“While this is extraordinarily helpful for the ventures team, the tangible value that he has brought back to the organization is even more impressive. From the consistent practice of creating knowledge packs to share insights back into the mothership to ensuring that there is TDK accountability and resources to add strategic value to every deal they do, Nicolas has created a more consistent and structured framework for enabling strategic value than any other CVC I have worked with. This has resulted in some of the highest praise I have heard for a CVC from their portfolio, and it has also gone recognized by the traditional VC community. Top tier funds like Khosla and Lux have seen the talent and impact of the TDK Ventures team, and they frequently offer up deals and insights because they view TDK as a high value-add co-investors. This is a level of stature and relationship that few CVCs, even the long-established name brands, can achieve, but given Nicolas’ fanatic devotion to placing the entrepreneur first, I am not surprised in the least that TDK Ventures was able to accomplish this.
“All that aside, the most important reason that I believe Nicolas deserves recognition on the GCV Powerlist is that he is a true leader, full stop. I have known many CVC managing directors throughout my career who are great dealmakers, with large checks that garner press and advance their personal brands, but I would not consider them exceptional team leaders. Nicolas embodies the spirit of what leadership should be, something that is quite rare in the industry, and that is to put his own ego aside to uplift his own team and unlock their full potential. I see this happen weekly, where Nicolas is a tempered and well-balanced arbiter of his team’s deal reviews, framing the feedback from all the experts in a way that is constructive (and not demoralizing) for his deal leads. He empowers his team to take true ownership and accountability over their deals, which is a welcome contrast to the industry practice of letting the team do the legwork for deals the leadership ultimately takes credit for, and he also pays very close attention to the spirit of the team, taking the personal time to craft a series of core values to guide their activities and even using NPS scoring to check that those values are being upheld in the market. You have seen the outcome of this style of leadership already, having recognized Anil Achyuta as a GCV Rising Star 2021 (GCV Emerging Leader in 2022) – this is all possible due to Nicolas’ unique style of leadership, and put very simply, it is something we should be actively highlighting and encouraging in the industry.
“In conclusion, TDK Ventures is quickly becoming one of the most dominant and influential investors in the industry, and Nicolas is the humble steward that has made it all possible. As you know, I have worked with dozens of corporate innovation leaders in my career, and I can confidently say he is paving the way in developing new best practices across all facets of CVC that should be emulated across the industry. This is a team on a rocketship, and just like any good VC would, I strongly recommend we publicly recognize their success early so we can say ‘knew them when’.”
Anil Achyuta, investment director at TDK Ventures, said: “I have worked in a professional environment for over 15 years now. I have had intelligent, hard-working, savvy, charismatic and visionary bosses before. Nicolas is all of them combined in one person. He is the hardest worker I know and always gives back to the community. When I joined the job at TDK Ventures, he told me, ‘let us aim to be the top 1 percentile of CVCs’. I thought surely, he is kidding because we were a fledgling $50m fund with only three CVC managers who have never been in a CVC fund before with a small network internally within TDK! In less than two years, we have made 16 investments, have three exits (SLD Laser – M&A, Origin – M&A, GenCell – IPO), have a unicorn (Groq), and have quadrupled our AUM by raising a second fund of $150m. Nicolas does what he says and says what he does.”
Ellen Ehrenpreis, a partner at law firm Orrick, endorsed: “What you may not know is that I had the great pleasure and good fortune to have been introduced to Nicolas when TDK Ventures was just an idea. From our first meeting, I was immediately impressed by Nicolas’ vision, enthusiasm, resourcefulness and tenacity in mapping out a plan to turn his nascent idea into a rock star CVC. Nicolas was dedicated right from the start to ensuring the right team and talent would be in place to successfully execute his vision. In our first conversation, Nicolas articulated an unwavering commitment to being ‘portfolio company first’ in his aspiration to build a top tier CVC with a primary focus on bringing ‘TDK Goodness’ to a potential network of portfolio companies in which TDK Ventures might invest. From the time we formed the CVC to now, 16 investments and seven follow-on financings later, I can say, as both friend and lead outside counsel to TDK Ventures, having watched Nicolas up close over the past two-plus years, that Nicolas embodies the ‘TDK Goodness’ about which he so often speaks. Nicolas is the consummate professional, among the highest order ‘good human beings’ one could know and a remarkably committed team player. A person of supreme intelligence and integrity, Nicolas is as committed to his TDK team as he is to all those within his larger orbit, whether at the mothership, among the executives within the growing portfolio of incredible companies in which TDK Ventures has thoughtfully invested or those who, like me, make up the team of TDK Ventures’ advising professionals. Nicolas works closely, productively and respectfully with everyone who is part of his larger team and expects the same hard work, contribution and commitment (if not more) of himself as he does from the members of the broader group. Nicolas is a seasoned leader who aspires to be both ‘learner’ and ‘listener’. He invites and values the input of his team members and at the same time is unafraid to inquire about that which he does not know, always with the goal of ensuring his own growth, the growth of his team and, most importantly, the best collective outcome in any particular situation. And Nicolas is bold and audacious. He has set out for himself and his team significant goals and aspirations, including to become a top CVC, and pursues those goals with laser focus and determination, skilfully balancing risk and opportunity, on the one hand, with discipline and level-headedness, on the other. In a very short time, Nicolas has emerged as an investor top funds seek out and has earned a reputation for being a hands-on, hard-working, investing professional well-respected by everyone. Nicolas would be an absolutely stellar choice for the Powerlist and in my opinion scores the highest marks for all that he has accomplished and for the ‘TDK Goodness’ he has delivered to the tech industry in the short span of time since TDK Ventures was formed.”
Andrew Maywah, an investment director at TDK Ventures, remarked: “I have the pleasure of working closely with Nicolas Sauvage as a co-founding member of TDK Ventures and one of his direct reports. Based on my interactions with him, from both personal and professional contexts, I would like to recommend him for the GCV Powerlist.
“Nicolas is a consummate leader, able to consistently design, implement, and lead a variety of projects and initiatives to very successful outcomes. Nicolas was the driving force behind the founding of TDK Ventures and has been leading our team to achieve outstanding results every step of the way. But the sheer magnitude of the results accomplished under his expert leadership is astounding and likely surpass the results of very many other CVC firms. For instance, Nicolas’ leadership enabled our team to: (A) raise a second fund for TDK Ventures in roughly four months from start to finish, with wide engagement inside TDK, and get board approval for the second fund only a little over a year and a half since the firm’s founding in July 2019; and (B) achieve three exits in our first fund in a little over a year and a half, are incredibly unique accomplishments and really set Nicolas far above the crowd of other CVC leaders. And these results are especially powerful considering the ongoing global pandemic.
“I genuinely admire Nicolas’ unwavering commitment to delivering the highest quality results at all times. This is one of the key aspects that makes the team so successful. It would be easy for a freshly minted CVC to simply put all of its energy into chasing exciting financial results. But, under Nicolas’ leadership, the team is focused on delivering the highest quality results overall for TDK Ventures, entrepreneurs, and other investors in the ecosystem. And through that commitment to quality, we have been able to achieve a sterling reputation within the community in addition to attractive performance. TDK Ventures has been able to co-invest alongside many of the CVC/VC community standard-bearers like DBL Partners, Intel Capital, Sony Innovation Fund, and Khosla Ventures. This is a very strong signal of approval by the community and is primarily due to Nicolas’ steadfastness in generating high-quality outcomes.
“Additionally, Nicolas is professional, creative, and knows how to tap into team members’ strengths and motivate them to do better. He gave the team very helpful recommendations on identifying unique positive and negative signals for investment opportunities. Furthermore, Nicolas is upbeat, collaborative, and extremely personable. It is very easy for him to connect with people across different cultures and build meaningful relationships where everyone benefits. These are hallmarks of exceptionally strong leadership that fosters teamwork. Nicolas provides more than just good advice; he is able to work alongside individuals to lift them up to a level where they are doing much better than they were before.
“Because of Nicolas’ leadership, TDK Ventures is focused on consistently following best practices within the CVC community, which is responsible for TDK Ventures becoming considerably influential and impactful so quickly.”
Peter Moran, formerly a general partner at VC firm DCM Ventures, said: “After more than 20 years building DCM Ventures into one of the largest Trans-Pacific Venture firms, I retired [in 2020] and had the opportunity to work closely with Nicolas Sauvage as he established and ran TDK Ventures. I have witnessed first-hand his leadership.
“Nicolas is well on his way to building one of the elite CVCs anywhere in the world. His relentlessness and enthusiasm have not only birthed TDK Ventures from within a large corporation, but in their first year and a half, TDK Ventures has blasted out of the blocks faster than any CVC I am aware of – ever. In less than two years, they have had three positive exits and announced a much larger fund 2. They have gotten into many top tier deals, are working with great co-investors, are demonstrating an impressive track record of value add for their portfolio and more. Nicolas makes sure that TDK Ventures strives for excellence across all dimensions of being a great VC.
“While a strong leader, Nicolas guides TDK Ventures to win as a team: I have been super impressed at TDK ventures commitments across the whole team to meaningfully follow through adding value with ALL companies they invest in and even many of those they turn down. This is incredibly rare behaviour from any VC and really sets TDK Ventures apart.
“Nicolas brings a fresh positive, high energy attitude to every meeting I have ever seen him in but behind this is a relentless pursuit of details to make sure a clear strategy is established and then followed through on.”
Regarding his contribution to the CVC and VC ecosystem, Sauvage said: “We have a ‘Pay Forward’ mindset where we look for opportunities to help raise the bar in corporate venturing to ultimately serve entrepreneurs better. Please see slides on Pay Forward including the partnership with 500 Startups on the ‘Corporate Venturing Insider’ series and the 50 lessons on starting a CVC that received a lot of positive feedback. In addition, the full TDK Ventures team have been very supportive of joining panels and keynotes to share experiences.”
For plans for the year ahead in 2021, Sauvage said: “Execute on fund 2 strategy – team growth, increase the quality of due diligence, 10 to 12 investments in six strategic spaces in next 12 months, and contribute to the ecosystem. Serve even better our portfolio – ‘TDK Goodness’, board service, recruitment of both portfolio programme manager and marketing principal.”
He considered scaling contribution to society and a better planet to be a major opportunity, adding: “Investing and accelerating entrepreneurs’ meaningful projects is as rewarding it gets.”
Concerning his career path prior to corporate venturing, Sauvage said: “My engineering background, combined with a varied career in product management, sales, ecosystem, both in startups and big companies, is proving really helpful to drive a CVC with the ultimate goal of helping entrepreneurs succeed, for example, my net promoter score is from my head of sales experience.”
