Loic Lietar founded the corporate venturing unit of STMicroelectronics in 2011 alongside Guy Lauvergeon. The two executives are both long-term veterans of the Switzerland-based semiconductor company.
Lietar, managing director, said in an interview for last year’s Powerlist™: “Why corporate venturing in ST? This was not the first time the company has thought about a corporate venture initiative – it is the fourth attempt. Guy and I also tried to start it a few years before.”
The unit has made two undisclosed investments, according to STNewVentures’ website.
He added: “We have $50m until 2015. We built the fund to maintain our strategy. We operate as much as possible like a pure corporate venture capital fund but make arm’s-length investments and do not want to see formal business relationships related to the fact we are shareholder in the company. We have walked away from deals because other investors expected a relationship with ST. “The only requirement we have is silicon or semiconductors have to play a key role in the company. How much can we learn of the role of semiconductor in the value chain?”
Lietar’s entire private sector career has been with ST. He said: “I have always been in the same company, yet I have had different jobs in all places in the world. They hired me as a PhD student, yet I never passed my PhD, because the company offered me things to do that were more exciting.”
Lietar studied at the Ecole Polytechnique in France and gained a master’s degree in science from Orsay University and an MBA from Columbia University.
