“Venturing is a critical tool within BP’s innovation ecosystem. The state of the energy industry today is such that the importance of accessing novel technologies and leveraging great partnerships with others is higher than ever.”
David Eyton, head of technology at BP
“Partnering with innovative startup companies supplements Evonik’s approach of open innovation and creates excellent opportunities for accelerating the development of new businesses and opening up future growth fields. The entrepreneurialism and the pioneering spirit that prevails in young technology firms also helps us to stimulate our own innovation culture. Bernhard Mohr has done a great job in building an outstanding team and helping Evonik to understand and materialise the strong value of corporate venturing.”
Klaus Engel, CEO of Evonik Industries
“We are tripling our investment in the next fund because we know that this approach works and critically informs our long‑term business strategy. Katelyn [Donnelly] is the driving force behind the fund.”
John Fallon, Pearson’s global CEO and member of the Pearson Affordable Learning Fund investment committee
“Merck is a leading science and technology company, with three strong innovative business sectors. Beyond the innovation activities in our current businesses, we benefit significantly from the strategic investments we make through MS Ventures in our core fields and beyond our current scope. Roel [Bulthuis] has been instrumental in building the fund and is the driving force behind it.”
Stefan Oschmann, chairman of the executive board and CEO of Merck
“BDMI plays a critical role in Bertelsmann’s innovation and growth efforts. Thanks to very close collaboration with our operating businesses, ranging from TV broadcasting, magazine and book publishing to business services, BDMI is successfully connecting our businesses with innovative young startups. In the case of BDMI’s StyleHaul, it led to the acquisition by our TV division RTL Group. Besides BDMI’s focus on North America and Europe, Bertelsmann has separate venture activities around the globe in China, Brazil and India. This gives us a unique global network of expertise.”
Thomas Rabe, CEO of Bertelsmann
“IBM Ventures is essential to how we engage entrepreneurs and developers who are building innovative applications and technologies for cognitive solutions and cloud platforms. I am delighted to have George [Ugras] leading our efforts to amplify this essential component of IBM’s strategy.”
Ginni Rometty, CEO of IBM
“Motorola Solutions Venture Capital is an integral part of how we accelerate innovation for public safety and commercial customers. In 2015 alone, we added six new investments to our portfolio, including drone-maker CyPhy Works and eye interaction pioneer Eyefluence, and we welcomed new investment directors in Silicon Valley and Israel to our team. Reese Schroeder’s leadership of the ventures group has brought us access to strategic technologies and capabilities. Access, acceleration and perspective are the three reasons that we engage in corporate venture capital, and I am proud that our work has brought value to Motorola Solutions, our customers and the broader industry.”
Paul Steinberg, chief technology officer at Motorola Solutions, whose team includes the ventures group
“In the digital environment, technologies are being developed and are converging at a rapid and accelerating pace, challenging business models and transforming industries. As a pioneering technology leader, ABB created ABB Technology Ventures seven years ago to broaden our options for the future by scouting emerging technologies and business models, and making strategic investments. In this regard, Girish [Nadkarni] and his team at ATV have done an outstanding job of identifying and investing in areas such as robotics, machine learning, augmented reality and cybersecurity. All of us at ABB share in Girish’s pride in having been chosen once again for this honour by Global Corporate Venturing.”
Ulrich Spiesshofer, president and CEO of ABB