Claudia Fan Munce, managing director at US-listed technology company IBM’s Venture Capital Group, has taken a leadership position for the industry as the first corporate venturing board member of US trade body the National Venture Capital Association and is one of the most vocal advocates of the creation of “a corporate venturing community”.
This endorsement follows 13 years of pioneering work by Fan Munce. IBM Venture Capital commits to many venture capital funds and eschews direct equity investments. By backing venture capital funds, IBM sees their portfolio companies and is an avid acquirer to boost its revenues.
Fan Munce, one of the founder members of IBM Venture Capital and managing director since 2004, said she had initially resisted being moved to the group. Prior to her role with the venturing group, Fan Munce was head of technology transfer and licensing for IBM Research after joining the unit in 1985, and she refers to herself with pride as “a 28-year IBMer”. Fan Munce holds a master’s degree in electrical engineering and computer.
She recalled: “It was not an easy decision to move. I fought it. I said to them any thing you want we can build here.”
However, she now says it became clear a decision to interact with start-ups through venture capital showed “tremendous foresight” on the part of IBM.
Now the group has gained plaudits and expanded through the creation of SmartCamps to connect more directly with entrepreneurs and the wider venture ecosystem. Fan Munce said: “IBM’s model really has not changed at all. We are not looking to get a financial return through equity, but we are looking for top-line revenue growth through innovative partnerships with startups. Slowly things have evolved. Now the idea of corporate venture arms has really come into its own. Many groups, including Harvard Business School, have said how innovative the IBM model was. Now it has become a standard strategy for corporations.”
In fact some of the hottest venture capitalists turn to the company for help, in areas such as geographic reach, which even the most successful financial investors cannot rival corporations for.
At Santa Clara University she studied science and is a Stanford MBA. Fan Munce was on the board of the Latin America Venture Capital Association for many years.
Fan Munce also recalled she started her career at IBM instead of computer rival Hewlett- Packard partly because IBM’s internship programme paid less than a dollar more. She joked: “For a poor student a dollar per hour was a big difference.”
