Corporate venturers, like science fiction authors, have to be visionaries – except rather than simply imagining the future, corporate venturers have to be able to turn their vision of tomorrow into a concrete business strategy.
Time horizons vary, of course – Mary Kay James, vice-president and general manager at food producer Tyson’s corporate venturing unit, told the Global Corporate Venturing & Innovation Summit in January that she had to consider consumption trends in 2050.
Not every company looks that far in advance, but to stay ahead of their rivals tomorrow as well as today, corporates have been scouring the world for the most promising technologies to invest in. As Markus Solibieda, managing director of Germany-based chemicals producer BASF’s venturing arm, put it: “We need to be present in all global locations where innovation takes place.”
Step by step, with each investment, corporate venturers are shaping our future world. And judging by the kinds of investments already under way, the future that science fiction writers have long envisioned – in which flying cars and robot assistants are part of everyday life – is drawing ever closer. But just how close are we?
I reflected on this question at the London Science Museum’s Robot exhibition. I watched as Pepper, a four-foot humanoid robot spoke to the young boy in front of me, inviting him to bump fists. The boy reached forward to graze his knuckles against Pepper’s, and Pepper made an exploding fist gesture, making a soft kaboom noise to imitate an explosion. The boy broke into a grin.
Pepper is the brainchild of Japan-based telecoms group SoftBank, one of the most active corporate venturers in the world, with interests not just in telecoms and robotics, but also in e-commerce, finance, media and even baseball. SoftBank is bold when it comes to making bets on the future – in February, just four months after announcing the launch of a $100bn technology-focused corporate venturing fund, it revealed it had agreed to buy Fortress Investment Group, one of the biggest alternative investment firms in the world, for $3.3bn (see analysis).
This month’s issue focuses on three key themes – the digitisation of the industrial sector, the growing market for emotion recognition technology, and diversity in corporate venturing. But to borrow Elgar’s phrasing when he spoke of his Enigma Variations, “through and over the whole set another and larger theme goes, but is not played”, and in our case this larger, overarching theme is the visionary work of corporate venturing.
Our theme may not be enigmatic, but it does underlie all the news, analysis, interviews and guest comments that appear in this and every issue.
This month we also welcome industry veteran Janice Mawson, head of the GCV Leadership Society, which connects corporate venturers, entrepreneurs and other stakeholders in the innovation economy. She set up the corporate venturing subgroup at US advocacy group the National Venture Capital Association in 2003 (see interview).
Having recently joined as features editor of GCV, I would like to express my sincere thanks and appreciation to everyone on the GCV team. I am also grateful to you, our readers – write to me at nidar@globalcorporateventuring.com with any comments.
Flying cars vs autonomous vehicles: the race to dominate future of urban mobility
I look forward to moderating a debate at the GCV symposium in May between Airbus Ventures and Qualcomm Ventures on whether flying cars or autonomous vehicles will dominate our mainstream transport needs in the not too distant future. Airbus Ventures are bullish on flying cars. Qualcomm Ventures will make the case for autonomous vehicles.
We will publish a full report on the corporate venturing activity in this area, and there will be extracts in the April edition of this magazine. This is a continuation of the GCV automotive and mobility program, which is sponsored by BP Ventures, Magna International and Denso.
If you would also like to sponsor this program or contribute to the debate, contact me: twhitehouse@globalcorporateventuring.com
At the symposium, I will be asking what are the technological advances that could promote flying cars over ground-based autonomous vehicles, and what will be the decisive factors on safety, affordability and environmental performance. I will also be drawing on GCV Analytics to report on corporate venturing activity in these areas. Join me – it is going to be a lot of fun.