When companies face foundational change, the corporate investment unit can often become a pathfinder for new business ideas.
Who do corporations turn to when their business model needs not just small changes but radical reform? A subset of companies turns to their corporate venturing units for help strategising and working out how technology can propel them forward.
In some cases, corporations face the need for a complete transformation of their business, and CVC has become a key vehicle for mapping out a new route.
This report, produced with support from Btomorrow Ventures, looks at how this CVC is being used to drive transformational change in the tobacco, steelmaking and telecommunications sectors.
Tobacco faces the prospect of declining sales as its main product falls out of favour with consumers who are increasingly aware of the health risks of smoking cigarettes. We profile how BAT, formerly British American Tobacco, uses its CVC arm, Btomorrow Ventures, as a guide for introducing new product lines, including functional foods and beverages.
We profile how global steelmaker ArcelorMittal looks to its CVC, XCarb Innovation Fund, to reduce its energy and carbon emissions-intensive operations so that it can continue to operate sustainably.
A third case study is Canadian telecoms company Telus, which is using its investment arm, Telus Global Ventures, to expand into new sectors of health, agriculture and consumer services.
All three units have one common approach: They do not use CVC solely to make equity investments in startups. The venturing teams will also negotiate commercial contracts between their investee companies and business units at the parent corporation. This helps to ensure that startups’ technology gets inside the parent and goes some way to changing their business approach.
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Case study: Btomorrow Ventures
Moving BAT from tobacco to drinks and snacks
Case study: XCarb Innovation Fund
Helping ArcelorMittal rethink steelmaking
Case study: Telus Global Ventures
Taking Telus from telecoms to healthcare
