Corporate-backed investments declined as total capital decreased to $31.92bn from the $36.32bn in 2015, a 12% fall. The deal count dropped even more significantly, by 28% from 750 rounds in 2015 to 540 last year. Despite this, there are numerous areas of interest for investors in the sector – from artificial intelligence and machine learning through virtual and augmented reality tech to networking technologies and hardware.
GCV Analytics defines IT as encompassing cybersecurity, internet of things software, big data and data analytics, core artificial intelligence applications along with machine learning and deep learning, semiconductors and chips, and augmented (AR) and virtual reality (VR) technologies, among other things.
GCV reported 511 rounds involving corporate investors from the IT sector for the period between June 2016 and May 2017. Slightly more than half (258) were raised by businesses based in the US, while 88 took place in China, 38 in India, 24 in Japan and 20 in Israel.
Most of these 511 commitments went to emerging enterprises in the same sector (207), with the remainder going to companies in media (61), services (53), consumer (45) and health (45), among other sectors.
On a calendar year-on-year basis total capital raised in corporate-backed investment rounds declined to $31.92bn last year from the $36.32bn allocated in 2015, a 12% decrease. The deal count went down even more drastically, declining by 28% from 750 rounds in 2015 to 540 last year. These figure appear to suggest that while corporate venturers are still involved in a very large number of deals and portfolio companies, they are becoming more cautious about how and where they invest their money.
Investment professionals from IT corporate investors told Global Corporate Venturing that emerging data streams to a large extent drive the broad and variegated spectrum of emerging areas within the IT sector, on the software side.
Joydeep Bose, now former managing director of corporate strategy, investments and M&A in Asia-Pacific for networking hardware producer Cisco Systems, said innovation in today’s software industry was driven by data, where one type of company is “doing data discovery and selling insights that are somewhat actionable”, while other types “are creating experiences out of data and monetising the outcome”. He also pointed that the business activities of the former were “relatively linear”, whereas data-based experience creation is “reasonably complex” and encompassed a large number of technologies: “machine learning, predictive analytics, natural processing, micro-services, messaging and application management, multifactor authentication, [and] chatbots”.
All those developments on the computation software side would not be possible without advances in hardware. Thus it would be natural for hardware producers to monitor such developments closely and advance synchronously.
Lee Sessions, managing director of portfolio business development at Intel Capital – the venturing unit of the semiconductor manufacturer, said in seeking synergies between corporate parent Intel and portfolio companies, Intel Capital looked at “a range that spans client and mobile computing, the internet of things, robotics, augmented and virtual reality, cybersecurity, cognitive computing, big data and the cloud”, neatly summarising the gamut of technologies catching investors’ attention.
The leading corporate investors from the IT sector were Intel, diversified conglomerate Alphabet, and semiconductor producer Qualcomm, accounting for the highest number of rounds. Intel and Alphabet also took part in the largest rounds, where the list was topped by China-based internet company Tencent. Other investors topping both lists included media and data research company International Data Group (IDG), cloud platform developer Salesforce, software company Microsoft, electronics manufacturer Samsung and Cisco Systems.
Alphabet and Intel were also the top investors in emerging IT enterprises, having participated in 293 and 206 rounds between June last year and the end of May this year. Salesforce and Microsoft participated in most sizeable rounds.
Overall, corporate investment in IT-focused emerging enterprises also went down from 2015 to 2016 in both deal count and total capital. According to GCV Analytics data, $11.79bn was invested over 552 rounds in 2016, a 27% drop from the $16.12bn invested over 587 deals in 2015.
Deals
IT corporates invested in a number of large rounds, raised primarily by transport companies. Seven of the top 10 rounds were above the $1bn mark.
China-based ride-hailing service Didi Chuxing closed the largest financing round yet by a private venture capital-backed company – $7.3bn in debt and equity. The $4.5bn equity portion of the round included $1bn from electronics producer Apple, a reported $400m from e-commerce firm Alibaba and its Ant Financial affiliate, $600m from insurer China Life, and contributions from Tencent, telecoms group SoftBank.
China-based video streaming platform iQiyi raised $1.53bn from investors including internet group Baidu, which contributed $300m, and IDG Capital, the local venture capital affiliate of International Data Group. Launched as Qiyi in 2010, iQiyi operates an online video platform that offers both a free and a subscription-based streaming service. It had about 480 million monthly active users at the end of last year.
India-based e-commerce firm Flipkart raised $1.4bn in funding from Tencent, online marketplace operator eBay and software provider Microsoft at a post-money valuation of $11.6bn. Flipkart runs India’s largest e-commerce marketplace by sales, carrying a wide range of consumer goods. However, profitability has proven hard to come by as it has faced fierce competition not only from domestic rivals such as Snapdeal but also foreign competitors like Amazon.
Qualcomm took part in a $1.2bn round raised by US-based satellite operator OneWeb. SoftBank invested $1bn as part of the round, which included several other corporates, all existing investors in the company – aerospace group Airbus, beverage producer Coca-Cola, conglomerates Virgin Group and Bharti Enterprises, cable and internet service provider Totalplay, and satellite services companies Hughes Network Systems and Intelsat. Founded in 2012, OneWeb is building a network of 720 low-earth-orbit satellites to provide internet coverage across the world.
Tencent led a $1.2bn funding round for Indonesia-based on-demand ride and delivery service provider Go-Jek. The deal, Tencent’s first venture capital investment in Indonesia, was closed at a $3bn post-money valuation. Go-Jek initially focused on a ride-hailing service of motorcycle taxis called ojeks, but has since expanded to four-wheel vehicles and now oversees a network of 200,000 drivers in 25 Indonesian cities.
Le Supercar, a smart car developer spun out of China-based internet and technology developer LeEco, raised $1.08bn from backers including laptop and smartphone maker Lenovo. Launched in 2014, Le Supercar has a team of more than 1,000 people working to develop an autonomous car provisionally named LeSee. The company is collaborating with sports car producer Aston Martin, automotive manufacturer GAC Group and electric vehicle developer Faraday Future, and plans to set up a $3bn auto park in Zhejiang Province where it will assemble the vehicles.
US-based short-term accommodation marketplace Airbnb closed a $1bn series F round which included Alphabet. Airbnb did not disclose the identity of investors in the round, which numbered 40 according to a regulatory filing, but it reportedly valued the company at $31bn. A report in September said Alphabet’s subsidiary CapitalG, then known as Google Capital, was co-leading the round, which had then reached $555m of a targeted $850m. Airbnb runs an online and mobile platform for users to lease or rent properties over short periods.
Grail, a US-based oncology diagnostics spinout of genomics technology producer Illumina, achieved a first close of its series B round at $900m with the backing of several corporates, including Tencent. The round included pharmaceutical firms Johnson & Johnson Innovation, Bristol-Myers Squibb, Celgene and Merck & Co, medical technology producer Varian Medical Systems, pharmaceuticals supplier McKesson’s corporate venturing unit McKesson Ventures, and Amazon. Established in 2016, Grail is working on a blood test for early detection of cancer.
Investors including Tencent and automotive e-commerce firm Bitauto agreed to invest a total of up to RMB4bn ($580m) in China-based online vehicle trading platform Yixin Group. Yixin has created an online marketplace for new and used vehicles that is used by carmakers, vehicle dealers and automotive service providers as well as financing and insurance partners.
Earlier, in 2016, Yixin Capital had also raised $550m from a consortium including its parent company and corporations Tencent, Baidu and e-commerce platform JD.com.
Deals in emerging IT companies – from 3D mapping and gesture recognition through VR technology to data-related technology and cybersecurity – were backed by corporate investors from all sectors.
LeEco secured $600m in capital from corporates including fashion brand Heilan Home and conglomerate Yihua Group. The round was also supported by plastic pipe manufacturer Hengxing Group, medical device maker Yuyue Group and pharmaceutical firm Luye Pharma Group. Founded in 2004, LeEco operates a range of subsidiaries that focus on technologies such as virtual reality, cloud computing, smart bicycles, televisions and smartphones. It has raised a total of at least $3.15bn for the various subsidiaries to date.
SoftBank led a $502m series B round for UK-based virtual reality development software provider Improbable, which valued the company at over $1bn. Venture capital firms Andreessen Horowitz and Horizons Ventures also participated in the round. Improbable develops SpatialOS, the distributed operating system it has built to help developers create huge-scale virtual reality simulations.
Automotive manufacturer Ford and Baidu combined to make a joint investment of $150m in Veldoyne Lidar, a US-based producer of light detection and ranging (lidar) 3D mapping technology. Founded in 1983 as Velodyne Acoustics, the company originally focused on subwoofers before transitioning to lidar sensor technology for self-driving cars and 3D mapping in the mid-2000s. Velodyne’s lidar systems combine laser-based sensors with the company’s software and algorithms to detect and interpret data from the surrounding environment.
China-based deep learning technology developer SenseTime raised $120m from investors including IDG Capital. The round was led by alternative asset management firm CDH Investments and also featured property-focused conglomerate Dalian Wanda Group and VC firm StarVC. Founded in 2014, SenseTime claims it is the only China-based company developing its own deep learning algorithms and infrastructure, and has produced applications that recognise faces, objects, vehicles and language.
Canada-based gesture control technology developer Thalmic Labs secured $120m in a round co-led by Intel Capital and Amazon’s Alexa Fund. The corporates co-led the round with Fidelity Investments Canada, a subsidiary of financial services conglomerate Fidelity. Founded in 2012, Thalmic is working on gesture control technology that could eventually be used in entertainment, virtual reality, prosthetics and sign language.
US-based Apache Hadoop distributor MapR Technologies closed a $110m financing round featuring Google and Qualcomm. Google Capital, the growth equity fund backed by Google, led the $80m equity portion of the round, which also featured Qualcomm’s corporate venturing unit Qualcomm Ventures, along with other traditional VC investors. Founded in 2009, MapR has created an enterprise-grade platform that can utilise a range of data applications in a unified Hadoop offering.
France-based sound system producer Devialet secured €100m ($106m) in a funding round led by Ginko Ventures, the European corporate venturing division of contract manufacturer Foxconn. Foxconn also invested directly, alongside its consumer electronics subsidiary Sharp Corporation, car maker Groupe Renault and Korelya Capital, an investment fund backed by internet company Naver and its messenger subsidiary Line. Devialet produces speaker systems and has released two products so far. The company’s technology, coupled with proprietary audio codecs, removes sound distortion usually present in small speakers.
Voyager Labs, an Israel-based artificial intelligence software provider, raised $100m from a consortium including New York-listed database system Oracle. Formerly known as Voyager Analytics, Voyager Labs emerged from stealth having been founded in 2012 and the $100m is the aggregate raised over three rounds since then.
China-based online information forum Zhihu received $100m in series D funding from backers including internet companies Tencent and Sogou. The corporates were joined in the round by private equity firm Capital Today and venture capital firms Qiming Venture Partners and Sinovation Ventures. Zhihu operates an online forum similar to US-based Quora, enabling users to crowdsource answers to queries.
US-based cloud cybersecurity software provider CrowdStrike closed a $100m series D round featuring telecoms company Telstra and CapitalG, the growth equity arm of Alphabet. The round valued CrowdStrike at more than $1bn. CrowdStrike’s Falcon platform uses artificial intelligence and machine learning algorithms to give enterprise users visibility across their network while preventing endpoint cyberattacks in real time.
Exits
Health-focused corporate venturers completed 84 exits between June 2016 and May 2017, including 69 acquisitions, nine initial public offerings (IPOs), four mergers, one stake sale and one company closure.
On a calendar year-to-year basis, GCV Analytics tracked 98 exits in 2016, which represents a considerable increase from the 80 transactions in 2015. The exited capital, however, registered a slight drop – $21.58bn last year, down from $22.44bn in 2015.
The table shows the ten largest exits, arranged by transaction size, in which IT-focused corporate venturers are investors that are either exiting or acquiring the business.
Big box retailer Walmart sealed the acquisition of Jet.com, an US-based e-commerce company backed by Alibaba and Alphabet. The transaction is made up of $3bn in cash to be paid in instalments and $300m in stock. Jet launched its e-commerce platform in July 2015, two years after it was founded, offering customers the chance to save money on a wide range of consumer products. Its algorithms calculate the final bill based on the amount of goods bought and a customer’s proximity to one of its warehouses.
LeEco agreed to acquire US-based flat screen television producer Vizio in a $2bn deal, giving exits to contract manufacturers AmTran Technology and Foxconn. Founded in 2002, Vizio develops consumer electronics products such as smart televisions and sound bars which are then assembled in China to be sold at relatively low cost. The deal will help China-headquartered LeEco build its business in the US, and its resources will enable Vizio’s products to be distributed globally.
MakeMyTrip agreed to buy fellow India-based online travel services platform Ibibo Group in an all-share deal. The combined company is worth $1.8bn. Naspers owns 91% of Ibibo, and Tencent 9%. They will receive a 40% stake in MakeMyTrip through the deal. Online travel platform Ctrip, which had issued $180m in convertible notes to MakeMyTrip in January, will receive a 10% stake in the combined company.
India-based e-commerce firm Flipkart signed a non-binding term sheet to acquire rival Snapdeal for less than $1bn in a transaction that will involve many of the latter’s investors making a loss. Investors in Snapdeal include SoftBank, which owns about 33%, eBay, Alibaba, Foxconn, Intel and mobile software provider Myriad. Founded in 2010, Snapdeal operates a diversified e-commerce marketplace offering some 60 million products, but it has faced long-standing difficulties in generating a profit, largely due to competition from Flipkart and Amazon.
GE Digital, a subsidiary of hardware conglomerate General Electric, agreed a $915m acquisition of US-based field service management software provider ServiceMax, enabling another GE unit, GE Ventures, to exit. Enterprise software producer Salesforce, which had initially invested in ServiceMax through its Salesforce Ventures unit, and service management software producer PTC were also among the exiting investors. ServiceMax supplies mobile and cloud-focused field service management software for industrial businesses that install, maintain and repair machines.
Salesforce agreed to acquire Krux, a US-based data management developer backed by investors including media group Time Warner, for “about $700m”, according to the Wall Street Journal, divided equally between cash and stock. Krux produces cloud-based data management software for marketing and media companies. After the acquisition, it will help Salesforce Marketing Cloud build its audience segmentation and targeting ability.
IT services provider Wipro Systems agreed to acquire US-based cloud technology producer Appirio in a $500m deal, allowing Salesforce to exit. Appirio offers consultancy services and diagnostic tools to help businesses understand how best to deploy cloud computing technology, and provides technology that enables businesses to build custom cloud and mobile applications. The company also operates Topcoder, an online crowdsourcing marketplace for designers, developers and data scientists.
Intel agreed to acquire US-based deep learning software developer Nervana Systems for a price reported by Recode to be $408m, giving an exit to futures firm CME Group. Nervana has built a cloud-based platform that enables businesses to incorporate enterprise-grade deep learning technology into their processes.
China-based tyre manufacturer Shandong Linglong Tyre Co raised approximately RMB2.6bn ($390m) when it floated on The Shanghai Stock Exchange, giving an exit to conglomerate Legend Holdings. Linglong Tyre issued 200 million shares at RMB12.98 each, having initially filed for an IPO in May 2014. Founded in 1975, Linglong Tyre manufactures a range of tyres, exporting them to around 180 countries. Legend subsidiaries Legend Capital and Hony Capital were among the investors in a $15m round for the company in 2010.
Salesforce Ventures is set to exit US-based cloud security provider CloudLock after networking equipment manufacturer Cisco agreed to buy it for $293m. Founded in 2007 as Aprigo, CloudLock has developed cybersecurity technology aimed at cloud applications. Its software tracks user behaviour and sensitive data stored online, helping businesses comply with regulations and ensuring their files and applications are secure.
Emerging enterprises operating in the IT sector provided their corporate investors with exits worth between $9m and $915m. The transactions included 52 acquisitions, six IPOs, one merger and three other transactions.
Enterprise software provider Hewlett Packard Enterprise (HPE) agreed to acquire US-based data management software producer Simplivity in a $650m cash deal, giving an exit to telecoms firm Swisscom. Simplivity has built a data virtualisation platform that uses hyperconvergence – an infrastructure system integrating computing, storage, networking, virtualisation resources and other technologies – to help businesses simplify their data centre infrastructure while making it more secure. HPE intends to combine Simplivity’s software with its own technology.
Investors including AMD, Samsung and GlobalFoundries exited US-based semiconductor technology developer Soft Machines in a $250m acquisition by Intel. Soft Machines licenses and co-develops architecture-based processor and system-on-chip products for the internet-of-things, mobile, networking and cloud computing industries.
Nutanix, a US-based enterprise cloud company backed by venture capital firm Sapphire Ventures, floated on Nasdaq after completing a $237.9m IPO, valuing it at $2bn. The company sold 14.87 million shares at $16 each, slightly above the anticipated 14 million shares at an expected range of $13-$15 a share. Nutanix filed for a $200m IPO in December 2015 but delayed the flotation citing market conditions. Incorporated in 2009, Nutanix has created a cloud platform aimed at business users that combines server, virtualisation and storage silos into a unified interface.
Telecoms company Telstra exited US-based cloud communications platform developer TeleSign after mobile data services provider Bics agreed to acquire it for $230m in cash. Founded in 2005, TeleSign supplies secure authentication and mobile identity services to digital and internet service providers, enabling them to add real-time communications to existing applications or services without expanding backend infrastructure. Bics claimed in a statement that the acquisition would create the world’s first end-to-end communications-platform-as-a-service company by linking TeleSign’s technology with a global voice carrier service.
US-based Cloudera went public in a $225m IPO that gave Intel an exit, but at a steep discount from its investment valuation, signalling that while the IPO market is improving, some corporates may have to accept paper losses in return for exits. Cloudera issued 15 million shares on the New York Stock Exchange at $15 each, above the $12 to $14 range it had set. Founded in 2008, Cloudera has developed a cloud-based hybrid open-source enterprise data management platform that incorporates machine learning and advanced analytics to help subscribers improve their businesses and design connected products.
Funds
Between June last year and May this year, corporate venturers and corporate-backed venture firms investing in the IT realm secured over $120bn in capital via 96 funding initiatives, which included 37 corporate-backed VC funds, 19 new venturing units, 19 accelerators, two incubators and eight other initiatives.
On a calendar year-to-year basis, funding initiatives registered a slight decrease in count last year alongside a sharp increase of total capital raised due to the unusually large $93bn SoftBank Vision Fund –$124.71bn over 144 initiatives, up from $11.71bn over 147 initiatives in 2015.
SoftBank announced and raised its record-breaking $100bn SoftBank Vision Fund, which will be broadly focused on technology companies. The backers of the fund include Softbank itself which committed $25bn, electronics producer Sharp, the Saudi Arabian government’s Public Investment Fund, electronics producer Apple, Qualcomm and contract manufacturer Foxconn.
Smartphone maker HTC launched a virtual reality funding initiative called Virtual Reality Venture Capital Alliance in partnership with 27 other VR investors. The fund will invest in VR technology and content startups, as well as those working on augmented and mixed reality. Fund partners have $10bn of deployable capital, according to its website. Alvin Wang Graylin, president of VR at HTC China, is president of the coalition.
The Chinese government has established a RMB100bn ($14.5bn) fund backed by several state-owned firms that will invest in the country’s internet sector. The scheme will form part of the Chinese government’s Internet Plus initiative, which aims to strengthen traditional industries through the introduction of internet technology. Financial services firm Industrial and Commercial Bank of China (ICBC) is its largest limited partner, supplying $1.45bn. Its other LPs include telecom companies China Mobile and China Unicom, insurance provider China Post Insurance and Citic Guoan Group, part of investment firm Citic Group Corporation.
China-based internet company Baidu established a $3bn investment vehicle dubbed Baidu Capital. Baidu Capital will focus on mid to late-stage startups in the internet sector, making individual commitments between $50m and $100m. The unit will provide money in US dollars, Chinese yuan and other currencies. Baidu Capital is also expected to attract cash from other unnamed entities, including insurance funds, securities companies and government-backed institutions.
China-based smartphone manufacturer Xiaomi agreed to form a RMB12bn ($1.74bn) strategic investment fund in partnership with the government of the Chinese province of Hubei. Xiaomi, Hubei’s guidance fund Yangzte River Industry Fund, and the government of Hubei’s largest city, Wuhan, have agreed to each provide 33% of the capital for Xiaomi Yangtze Industry Fund, with the RMB12bn figure representing the overall target. The fund will invest in companies that would be able to expand the Mi ecosystem Xiaomi is building around its mobile and smart connected devices.
US-based smartphone and virtual reality technology provider HTC Corporation agreed to set up a RMB10bn ($1.45bn) virtual reality investment fund in partnership with China’s Shenzhen Municipal Government. HTC had originally concentrated on smartphone manufacturing but has latterly invested heavily on building a business around its Vive VR headset. Shenzhen VR Investment Fund will look to secure financial support from Chinese and international partners, and to attract companies participating in the industry. It will be the world’s largest dedicated VR-focused VC fund.
Germany-headquartered industrial product manufacturer Siemens will invest €1bn ($1.1bn) in disruptive technology companies through a new corporate venturing unit. The subsidiary, dubbed Next47 as a reference to 1847 – the year Siemens was founded – will invest in innovative technology in sectors relevant to Siemens such as decentralised electrification, artificial intelligence, autonomous machines, networked mobility and blockchain-equipped data transfer technology.
US-based hardware producer Apple announced the establishment of a $1bn investment fund that will focus on the advanced manufacturing space. The company has yet to disclose any details about structure, strategy or staffing of the fund or even if it would target venture investments.
Venture capital firm Sapphire Ventures closed $1bn in new capital, with the money coming from its sole limited partner, Germany-headquartered enterprise software provider SAP. Founded as SAP Ventures by SAP in 1996, the firm spun out in 2011 and changed its name to Sapphire in late 2014. SAP remains its sole limited partner, but does not have a direct say in how the firm is managed. Sapphire targets enterprise and consumer technology developers, and invests in technology funds in Europe, the US and Israel through a separate evergreen vehicle. The $1bn will be divided between a $300m early-stage fund and a $700m growth fund.
IDG Capital Partners, the China-headquartered venture capital affiliate of IT media firm International Data Group, closed its latest fund at $1bn. IDG Capital Fund III was raised in partnership with US-based VC firm Breyer Capital and will fund healthcare, energy, consumer products and technology, media and telecom companies that are based in China or looking to enter the Chinese market.
People
The past year registered a considerable number of changes of roles and moves by important corporate players, involving Cisco Systems, Alphabet, Qualcomm, Microsoft, and Baidu among others.
US-based networking equipment manufacturer Cisco lost its research and development team. Mario Mazzola, Prem Jain, Luca Cafiero and Soni Jiandani left after three of them were initially reassigned. The team was originally set up to fund spin-in startups developing networking products. The unit has deployed more than $2bn since the 1990s. Recode attributes the moves to a power struggle at Cisco, quoting an internal memo claiming the team’s decision to step down was “based on a disconnect regarding roles, responsibilities and charter that came to light” following their reassignment.
Joydeep Bose, managing director of Cisco APJ, the Japan and Asia-Pacific branch of US-headquartered networking equipment producer Cisco left the company. Bose oversaw corporate business development for Cisco in the Asia-Pacific region, including the local venture deals by corporate venturing unit Cisco Investments, and mergers and acquisitions. Cisco hired Bose in 2007 after seven years at Intel Capital, where he was managing director.
Intel Capital promoted four professionals to managing director, a rank that now comes with “expanded responsibilities”, after a team structure review and following the departure of some vice-presidents, including Lisa Lambert, to become managing partner at Westly Group, last year. Ameet Bhansali is covering new technologies, including AR and VR, wearables, robotics and drones; Anthony Lin, covers the Greater Asia region; Trina Van Pelt, the internet of things; and Bob Nunn, mergers and acquisitions and business development in data centre, cloud computing and big data.
In other new or expanded assignments, Intel Capital also appointed Marcin Hejka as head of activity in greater Europe and India following the departure of Marcos Battisti in May last year. Ken Elefant added software to his portfolio after the departure of Lambert, while continuing to lead Intel Capital’s security group.; Ramamurthy Sivakumar now leads the unit’s new focus on industry verticals, which will include areas such as sports, healthcare and other investments that span multiple Intel business units.
Intel Capital chose Christine Herron and Trina Van Pelt to manage its $125m Intel Capital Diversity Fund, which invests in tech startups led by women and minorities. As co-heads of the fund, Herron and Van Pelt replace Lisa Lambert.
Bill Maris, co-founder and managing partner of GV, formerly known as Google Ventures, left the fund and its parent company, Alphabet. David Krane took over the reins at GV and will oversee its global operations as CEO and managing partner, having originally joined Google as director of global communications and public affairs in 2000. Krane had been a general partner at GV since 2010 before stepping up to managing partner in 2014. Investments he has led for the unit include ride-hailing service Uber, smart thermostat maker Nest and crowdfunding platform CircleUp. Maris co-founded Google Ventures in 2009 with an initial budget of $100m a year which was soon increased. It currently invests about $500m a year and had some $2.4bn under management as of December 2015.
Maris has started raising capital for his own fund, Section 32. According to reports from last year, he had secured $230m for Section 32 to make it a healthcare-focused fund but withdrew due to the plans being insufficiently inspiring. In May this year, he closed Section 32’s first fund at $150m.
Rich Miner, general partner at GV, stepped down to work on an education initiative for parent company Alphabet. Miner had been with GV since the unit was formed, having joined Google when it acquired Android, a mobile operating system he co-founded, four years earlier. He also helped to launch telecoms firm Orange’s corporate venturing unit, Orange Ventures, as principal.
GV hired Craig Kornblau as its first media and entertainment adviser. Kornblau was president of Universal Pictures, a film studio overseen by NBCUniversal and owned by mass media firm Comcast, between 1999 and 2014, during which time it produced hits including the Bourne, Fast and Furious and Bridget Jones series. Kornblau will work with GV’s entire portfolio but will also advise on investments in the entertainment sector.
Jake Knapp left GV, where he was a design partner, to pursue full-time writing. Knapp was a design partner at GV for five years, having spent the previous five years as a designer at parent company Google. He was responsible for the creation of design problem-solving process Design Sprint, and wrote a book on the subject last year.
Mony Hassid, managing director of Qualcomm Ventures in Israel, left to rejoin his former boss Nagraj Kashyap at Microsoft. Hassid is now general manager and managing director at Microsoft Ventures in Israel reporting to Kashyap. Israel is Microsoft Ventures’ first international office outside of the US.
Karthee Madasamy, managing director at Qualcomm Ventures based in Bangalore, India, left to set up a venture capital fund in the US. He is being replaced by Varsha Tagare as head of Qualcomm Ventures India and its $50m fund. Madasamy’s past investments include Waze, acquired by Google, and Validity Sensors, acquired by Synaptics.
Matthew Goldstein, a principal at venture capital firm Trinity Ventures in San Francisco, joined Microsoft Ventures. He had spent three years investing in cybersecurity, software-as-a-service, fintech and cloud infrastructure deals.
Microsoft’s corporate venturing unit hired more people alongside a surge in deals. It hired Leo de Luna, previously a principal at venture capital firm Split Rock Partners, as managing director to cover California’s San Francisco Bay area and New York; Rashmi Gopinath, previously an investment director at Intel Capital, as an investing partner covering enterprise software investments in the Bay area; Lisa Nelson, previously chief of staff to the head of business development and the chief financial officer at Microsoft, as a partner; and Priya Saiprasad, previously part of financial services startup Square’s corporate development team, as a principal.
Scott Coleman, formerly general manager of technology company Microsoft’s accelerator network Startup Growth Partners, joined venture capital firm Ignition Partners. Coleman will be a business development partner at the firm’s new office in Los Altos, near San Francisco. Coleman joined Microsoft in March 2015 and was in charge of its seven accelerators, and fostered partnerships with VC firms across the world.
Microsoft Latin America appointed Mariano Amartino as Latin American startups director. Amartino comes to Microsoft from Wayra, the accelerator branch of Spain-based telecoms firm Telefónica’s OpenFuture initiative, where he was global director for two years. He will be based in Argentina where he will be tasked with leading Microsoft’s efforts to harness the startup ecosystem in Latin America.
Vosik Shamsiev left TEL Venture Capital, the corporate venturing unit owned by Japan-based electronics and semiconductor manufacturer Tokyo Electron. Shamsiev joined TEL VC in early 2014 as a venture partner after four years handling business development duties in Tokyo Electron’s solar photovoltaic division. He left his position to relocate to Toronto, Canada, where he plans to pursue new challenges.
Aymerik Renard was made director of US-based data storage provider Western Digital’s corporate venturing unit, which has invested more than $250m in more than 20 startups under chief strategy officer Mark Long. Renard said he would report to Daniel Flynn, who also oversees mergers and acquisitions and post-merger integration for Long.
Jim Lussier, managing director and head of corporate venturing unit Dell Ventures, left to run his own advisory and venture capital firm ahead of computer maker Dell’s merger with EMC. Coast Ridge Group, a firm Lussier set up in early 2011, is an adviser to entrepreneurs and corporations setting up a corporate venturing programme, and is expected to raise its own venture fund. Lussier left Dell Ventures after nearly five years running the $300m Strategic Innovation Venture Fund, which focuses on investments in areas including storage, data centre technology, cloud computing, big data and analytics, security, mobile and the internet of things.
Baochi Nguyen joined IDG Ventures as vice-president of marketing. Nguyen moved from recruitment platform Simply Hired, where she held the same position in an interim capacity, according to LinkedIn. Before that she was interim vice-president of marketing for Krux Digital, an adtech developer acquired by enterprise software provider Salesforce.
China-based internet company Baidu appointed Wenjie “Jenny” Wu as the first managing partner of its corporate venturing unit, Baidu Capital, which was formed late last year and equipped with $3bn in capital for dollar and renminbi-denominated investments of between $50m and $100m. Wu was formerly chief financial officer and then chief strategy officer at Ctrip, the China-based online travel services platform that went public in 2003.
Baidu Capital later hired Zhang Jinling from smartphone manufacturer Xiaomi to be its chief financial officer (CFO). Zhang, who was a vice-president at Xiaomi, took a dual role at Baidu as CFO of both Baidu Capital and the corporate’s online food delivery subsidiary, Baidu Waimai. Baidu formed Baidu Capital in October last and is committing $3bn to the venture in a bid to match local rivals Alibaba and Tencent, both of which have made extensive corporate venturing investments.
Baidu also hired Liu Wei to run its nascent corporate venturing unit, Baidu Capital, as chief executive. Liu was previously a partner at Legend Star, a venture capital subsidiary of conglomerate Legend Holdings. He joined Legend Star in 2011 and in his time at the unit its investments included speech recognition technology developer AI Speech and educational app developer Knowbox.
Mike Dimelow, vice-president of strategic business development at ARM, a UK-based chip designer recently acquired by SoftBank, left to co-found a venture capital firm. As reported by sister paper Global Government Venturing, UK state-owned development bank British Business Bank invested in Dimelow’s new firm, Accelerated Digital Ventures, which had raised £150m ($188m) at an initial close.
Eileen Tanghal, vice-president of new business exploration and new business ventures at ARM, joined In-Q-Tel, the US intelligence community’s strategic venture investment unit. The hire follows the departure of TJ Rylander, managing partner for the past decade, towards the end of last year to become a “general partner at new venture”, he said on his LinkedIn profile. Tanghal was previously managing director at Applied Ventures, the venturing subsidiary of Applied Materials.
David Harris Kolada left OpenText, the enterprise software producer whose corporate venturing activities he led, to form venture capital advisory firm DHK Ventures. Kolada was hired by OpenText from cleantech fund Sustainable Development Technology Canada in 2015 as vice-president of venture capital, and he oversaw direct CVC deals as well as fund-of-funds investments.
