As 2022 prepares to draw to a close, Global Venturing takes a look back at some of the most interesting and active new corporate venture funds to debut in the past 12 months.
From fast food to golf, auctioneering and construction, the most diverse group of companies launched investment funds in 2022.
We counted more than 296 corporate funding initiatives launched in the first three quarters of the year – though the appetite to launch new units dropped off considerably in the second half of 2022. Only 55 new funds were announced in Q3, compared to 128 and 123 in the earlier two quarters.
It is also one thing to to launch a corporate venture capital fund or unit, it’s another to actually start making investments. While some new units began with a flurry of activity, others have yet to make their first move.
Here’s a look at some of the most interesting or active of this year’s entrants into corporate investing and how they are doing so far.
OpenSea
OpenSea remains the world’s largest NFT marketplace, and in February co-founder Alex Atalla followed a $300m series C round by forming corporate VC unit OpenSea Ventures with a brief to invest in open Web3 technology. It was announced alongside a grant scheme for creators in the NFT ecosystem.
Investments
The unit has been one of the busier new CVC initiatives having disclosed 10 investments this year, the majority of which were at seed stage or earlier. The largest was a $40m series B for Golden, the creator of an automated knowledge database, and its other deals included metaverse world building platform Monaverse and Doppel, a developer of software that detects NFT fraud.
MongoDB
The database software producer established its own CVC arm the same month, launching MongoDB Ventures to back data and software developer-focused startups. It recruited Suraj Patel from VC fund Bow Capital to head the fund six months later.
Investments
The unit revealed at launch it had backed open-source database tool developer Apollo GraphQL and data intelligence software provider BigID, adding low-code software development startup 8base, code automation technology producer Gitpod and content management system developer Payload CMS to the portfolio later in the year.
Stellantis
Stellantis is one of the world’s biggest automotive groups, owning Fiat, Chrysler, Citroën, Peugeot and Jeep. The company put up over $330m for Stellantis Ventures in March and the unit’s reach is wide enough to take in not just transport technology but fintech, energy, the supply chain, virtual reality and NFTs.
Investments
Adam Bazih, who heads the fund, told the media it was ready to deploy in March, but it is yet to reveal an investment. Its parent company has since supplied an undisclosed amount of funding for Africar Group, which runs a network of more than 40 online automotive marketplaces across Africa.
Chipotle
The US-headquartered Mexican fast food chain set up a $50m venture firm called Cultivate Next under chief technology officer Curt Garner in April to further its mission to ‘Cultivate a Better World’, through investing in technologies that can help restaurants operate more effectively.
Investments
Cultivate Next’s first two deals were a $150m series C round for Meati Foods, the creator of a mushroom root meat substitute, and an investment of undisclosed size in Hyphen, a developer of automated meal production technology.
Home Depot
The big-box hardware retailer had already made a few investments and exited crowdsourced delivery service Roadie when it put $150m into a newly formed unit called Home Depot Ventures in May. Jennifer Marcus, who is heading the fund, told us it will target products that can help home and business customers as well as the company’s associates.
Investments
The unit’s only investment so far was as part of a $39m round for PunchListUSA, which runs an online platform that uses home inspection data to get estimates for home repairs and source renovators who can carry them out.
Christie’s
The auction house has been responsible for selling both the world’s most expensive painting and its most expensive NFT, and Christie’s Ventures CEO Devang Thakkar told us in July the unit is targeting products that promote access to art, as well as fintech and Web3 startups. NFTs ended up having a bad 2022, but the investment thesis is an interesting mix given Christie’s also does tax advisory and real estate work.
Investments
Christie’s Ventures’ debut investment was in LayerZero, which has created an interoperability protocol that allows people to move digital assets across blockchains more easily, shortly after it raised series A cash at a $1bn valuation. Thekkar said in July it expected to close another couple of deals soon but we haven’t heard anything else on that score yet.
PGA of America
Not to be confused with the entity that runs the PGA Tour, PGA of America represents US golf pros while promoting the sport and hosting select events. It combined with Elysian Park Ventures, the investment vehicle for the Los Angeles Dodgers owners, to form golf-focused venture fund EP Golf Ventures in July, pledging to explore technologies as diverse as athlete health, hospitality, agriculture, retail and facility management technology.
Investments
Even with a potential range that broad, there probably aren’t a huge number of startups that fit into EP Golf Ventures’ remit. It announced investments in mobile golf simulator developer Dryvebox and Sportsbox AI, the creator of a 3D sports coaching app, when it launched and is yet to name additional deals.
SentinelOne
Rob Salvagno, the former head of Cisco Investments, launched SentinelOne’s $100m strategic investment fund, S Ventures, in September, a year after joining the cybersecurity software producer. It invests between $1m and $5m per round, targeting products that can fit into its Singularity Marketplace app ecosystem.
Investments
S Ventures arrived with four portfolio companies – Laminar, Torq, Noetic Cyber and Armorblox – and took part in a $200m round valuing Drata, a developer of compliance workflow software, at $2bn in November. It’s not the only cybersecurity company to form a CVC unit this year: KnowBe4 and Ping Identity both announced funds over the course of 2022.
Dick’s Sporting Goods
The operator of some 850 sports equipment stores, Dick’s Sporting Goods offers plenty of opportunities for portfolio companies to get distribution for their products and is looking to invest in the ‘future of sport and retail’ through $50m fund DSG Ventures, which it announced in November.
Investments
The unit debuted with a four-strong portfolio spanning women’s basketball footwear brand Moolah Kicks, youth sports promoter EL1 Sports and sport-focused e-commerce marketplaces SidelineSwap and Out&Back Outdoors. It has also supplied an undisclosed amount of capital for sport-themed venture firm CourtsideVC.
Mozilla
Mozilla, the operator of internet browser Firefox, announced last month it was channelling $35m into a strategic investment fund called Mozilla Ventures under managing partner Mohamed Nanabhay to fund startups that embody the values of The Mozilla Manifesto: privacy, inclusion, transparency and human dignity.
Investments
The unit’s only a few weeks old, give it a chance! It did take part in a seed round for data sharing tool provider Secure AI Labs and Mozilla itself has backed distributed programming system developer Deno, anti-online harassment app developer Block Party and password manager creator Heylogin this year.
CRH
Ireland-based building materials supplier CRH launched a $250m fund last week tasked with investing in technology that can help the construction industry move towards decarbonisation. The unit is led by Eduardo Gomez Mendoza, who used to run M&A at Cemex, a Mexican peer with a thriving corporate VC arm of its own.
Investments
CRH Ventures told Global Venturing its first portfolio company is AlCrete Industries, a US startup that produces precast concrete products like manholes, vaults and pipes for use in new construction projects. The unit is mostly focusing on early-stage deals up to series B and is looking to add two or three new people to its team in 2023.
And finally…
FTX Ventures
With the dust yet to settle, there are more questions than answers about FTX Ventures, which was launched in January with $2bn in capital. Was it ever a corporate fund or was it always just a vehicle for Sam Bankman-Fried’s cash? How involved was FTX head of product Ramnik Arora, who was also a partner at the fund? And what’s going to happen to its portfolio?
Investments
FTX Ventures’ bigger portfolio companies include scalable blockchain creator Near Protocol, Web3 tool developer Mysten Labs and LayerZero. The good news is all the startups apparently got the $350m pledged by the fund. The problem is it wasn’t FTX or Bankman-Fried’s to begin with and it isn’t clear what’s going to happen to those stakes in a lot of cases.
Top photo courtesy of Raimond Klavins via Unsplash
