"It has been an interesting transition moving over to the corporate venturing side."
Rimas Kapeskas joined postal delivery company UPS’s corporate venturing unit as managing director last year.
Kapeskas said: “I have been with UPS for a number of years. I came out of the product research and development group, where we develop products in-house. It has been an interesting transition moving over to the corporate venturing side. You go through the same steps trying to launch a new product internally as start-ups go through. You need to go shopping for internal support and funding. There are a lot of parallels.”
He added: “The biggest shift is, before my taking over, all investments were in the US. When I took over the mandate, we decided to look more broadly globally. The dynamics of business mean distances are shrinking with improved telecommunications. There is also a growing consumer class globally, so we want to learn about the dynamics of changes globally, not just the US.”
Last month, UPS backed a $3.2m round for European logistics company Shutl to help it expand in the US.
Kapeskas gained his master of business administration at Emory University and also studied at University of Connecticut.
Lessons from the top: Kapeskas said: “Corporate venturing is growing because many more corporations are realising they cannot possibly be monitoring every space themselves. You really need to keep an open mind to changes. There is no longer a business-as-usual approach. You need to be constantly vigilant for innovation and be open to the kind of changes it brings.”
