Jonathan Tudor, a managing partner at UK-based advisory firm CG Innovation Partners (CGIP), has joined oil maker BP’s Castrol InnoVentures corporate venturing unit.
From today, Tudor will report to Roy Williamson (pictured at the IBF 2012 conference), managing director of Castrol InnoVentures. Williamson said: "We are delighted to welcome Jonathan Tudor to the Castrol InnoVentures team – the latest member of a new team targeting significant step-out growth for Castrol beyond it’s existing portfolio. Jonathan will lead our venture investment activity and in so doing will also work closely with the BP Ventures team."
BP Ventures is the corporate venturing unit for BP’s Alternative Energy and core petroleum units and its current head, Justin Adams, will be speaking at the Global Corporate Venturing Symposium on May 15 in London.
Tudor joins ahead of the launch of the Castrol 2020 challenge for start-ups and innovators globally with pitch events scheduled for London in May and Shanghai in June.
Mike Johnson, chief executive of Castrol, said: "The Castrol 20/20 Challenge is an exciting event for us and one which forms an important part of our overall open innovation and corporate venturing agenda.
"At Castrol we are historic leaders in technology and we aim to hold that position into the next decade and beyond by looking well beyond our current product portfolio. We are ready to invest in genuinely innovative and differentiated technologies and are looking forward to partnering with some great new businesses."
Stephen Lake, the other managing partner of CGIP, which was formed out of venture capital firm Cody Gate Ventures set up to manage technology businesses from the UK’s Qinetiq defence laboratories, said: "CGIP has a very good relationship with BP and we look forward to strengthening that relationship over time with Jonathan on their team.
"The CGIP business itself is broadening into a growth technology innovation and investment advisory firm serving corporations (including corporate venturing arms), governments, professional investors, growth businesses and major sources of IP [intellectual property] and know-how – with a focus around four themes driven by global change: digital life, healthy living, smart and sustainable systems and social impact.
"We will be expanding our Silicon Valley presence, adding coverage of Latin America and bringing in some new faces to the UK soon. Asia/India will have to wait a year."