Global Corporate Venturing Rising Stars Awards 2016: Mary Kay James

It could be argued that corporate venturing is a form of preservation for historic corporations and in the US there are few companies older than DuPont.

So it seems appropriate that DuPont should have one of the most highly regarded and prestigious corporate venturing units.

Part of the credit for this is due to Mary Kay James, a managing director (MD) at DuPont Ventures. She holds responsibility for sourcing, analysing and executing strategic investments for its $15bn agriculture and nutrition businesses. She was promoted in in 2013 to MD for agriculture, nutrition and health investments after more than nine years of investing in energy storage and solar investments. She also has experience as an adviser to cleantech VC American River Ventures. At present, she is also a board observer at AvidBiotics, an anti-bacterial company.

Last year, James finished her tenure as chairwoman of the US trade body National Venture Capital Association’s (NVCA) corporate venture group. She was one of the founding members of DuPont Ventures in 2003.

Michael Blaustein,
the other MD at DuPont Ventures, put it: “I certainly support Mary Kay’s nomination, although I’d say her star has already risen!

“She has been with the team for more than 10 years and is the acknowledged corporate expert on all aspects of corporate venturing, from deal sourcing through execution through post-investment management.

“She is a mentor to the team and her partners in the DuPont businesses she supports. She is an excellent strategic thinker, which enables her to envision the potential collaborations with startup companies and to work internally and externally to bring those partnerships to fruition.

“And, as you know, she is respected outside of DuPont in the corporate venture capital (CVC) community as a thought leader and expert in the field. We are lucky to have her here.”

In her spare time, James enjoys working with her family on historic property restoration. Of the future, James said: “Just as traditional VCs look for a transformational technology, I feel there is nothing more gratifying than finding startup companies with a technology that fills a gap for us, or that enables an entirely new strategic direction – ultimately helping transform DuPont.

“A few investments I made recently have the potential to dramatically change DuPont’s agriculture and nutrition businesses by accessing leading-edge technology and expediting time to market.

“Often, it can be difficult to get the attention from the DuPont business for a long term development that may or may not be successful.

“It is very challenging to get the business teams on board with an investment opportunity. Providing a new view of their business future through exposure to potentially transformational technologies is one way that I motivate a business to step up and become an investment partner.

“Once we are in alignment, the DuPont business also commits to a specific plan for development or other commercial arrangement.”

Similarly, her work at the NVCA and other organisations has encouraged James, a post-graduate in mechanical engineering from Ohio State University, in her view that collaboration and discussions more broadly are worthwhile.

She said: “At a high level, CVCs have done a great job participating in and supporting industry groups. But building trusting relationships is what drives investing partnerships, so more work can be done on that side. Non-competing companies should make it a priority to develop co-investing relationships with other CVCs as well as do a better job at finding common areas to share investments.”