Silicon Valley Bank (SVB) has long been an integral cog in the corporate venturing engine, with its advisory business supporting many of the largest players in the industry.
The firm has consistently balanced the needs of startups and corporate venturing units. Its venture debt is a flexible and welcome option to many company founders that are keen to preserve ownership.
Often, the companies do not draw down on their venture debt, but rather hold on to it as an insurance policy while the business grows to the next milestone. SVB also invests equity through SVB Capital, a backer of last year’s IPO of the Year award winner, FireEye.
Delving deeper
SVB sees buoyant deal flow activity from the more than 1,100 corporate venturing groups that the bank tracks globally, according to Tracy Isacke, leader of SVB’s corporate venturing relationship group.
Isacke explained that the bank’s analytics are able to do deep dives into organisations to hunt for specific things, saying: “Let us say a top corporate VC is looking for someone at this stage, with this kind of growth trajectory; we have a good lens, a deeper lens, than some other potential groups could reach out to, due to our banking relationships.”
The group is also looking to provide help for corporates seeking to network in the industry.
“We will do thematic events around subjects like artificial intelligence, cloud and big data, bringing together communities around a common theme,” Isacke said, adding that the number of foreign corporates setting up at least some presence in Silicon Valley has grown rapidly in recent years.
“Most corporates now have some flavour of corporate VC and innovation,” she says, reiterating the bank’s dedication to the corporate venturing segment as a long term strategy.
Shortlist
Allen & Co
Goldman Sachs
Silicon Valley Bank
Morgan Stanley
JP Morgan
