26 – 100 in alphabetical order: Dave Smith, Corning
Dave Smith has been head of corporate venture capital and director of mergers and acquisitions at ceramics and glass product maker Corning since he joined in April 2017.
One of the most prominent deals Corning has done to date is for US-based smart glass producer View, known as Soladigm when founded in 2007, for which it has supplied funds on several occasions.
As early as 2013, Corning participated in a $60m series E round in June for View and the two entered a strategic development agreement to advance View’s Dynamic Glass. The series E funding was used to support the development of dynamic glass technologies for exterior architectural applications.
Dynamic Glass, which at the time had been installed in more than 100 buildings across the US, automatically transitions between clear and variable tint in response to environmental conditions and user preferences.
In August 2015, Corning invested an additional $150m in View after the company had reportedly raised $100m from unnamed investors five months earlier. The capital helped expand View’s manufacturing capabilities and general company growth.
View subsequently raised more funding in 2017 and 2018 backed by TIAA Investments, an affiliate of asset manager Nuveen, investment manager BlackRock and telecoms and internet group SoftBank’s Vision Fund, increasing its overall debt and equity financing to more than $1.8bn in November 2018, and the company said its Dynamic Glass had been installed in 35 million square feet of buildings.
Other past deals included a $34m series B round In March 2014 led by Corning for US-based medical device maker NinePoint Medical, which develops medical devices that enable high-resolution in-vivo imaging to improve patient care. Proceeds from the financing was used to support the continuous commercial launch of the NvisionVLE Imaging System in the US, as well as development of the company’s product offering.
When US-based electronic switch developer Menlo Micro was spun out of conglomerate General Electric (GE) in December 2016, Corning took part in an $18.7m in a funding round which featured other investors including GE’s corporate venturing arm GE Ventures.
Apart from investing in companies, Corning also supplied cash for US-based venture capital firm Phoenix Venture Partners in March 2017. Its second fund’s limited partners included Corning, pharmaceutical firm Pfizer and manufacturing conglomerate 3M. Chemical producers Eastman Chemical, Solvay and Showa Denko, and manufacturing company WL Gore & Associates also contributed to PVP II fund, the size of which has not been disclosed. Its other LPs include undisclosed family offices and financial institutions.
After Smith came on board, Corning acquired small cell multi-access systems developer SpiderCloud Wireless for an undisclosed amount in July 2017 and of US-headquartered technology platforms developer 3M’s communication markets division for $990m in December 2017.
Since May 2017, Smith has been a member of US-based lighting solutions provider Versalume’s board of directors. The company holds the exclusive right to distribute Corning’s light-diffusing fibre technology called Fibrance.
Before joining Corning, Smith had been a senior director of mergers and acquisitions at e-commerce company eBay’s global corporate development group for a year.
Smith holds a bachelor’s degree in economics from University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and an MBA from University’s Pennsylvania’s Wharton School.
