Global Corporate Venturing Rising Stars Awards 2018: Carl Stjernfeldt

While last year for his Rising Stars award Carl Stjernfeldt revealed he was in the Guinness Book of World Records as part of a team effort, this year he is a little more self-deprecating: “No one is likely to be dumb enough to try to break our record otherwise I am a classic boring person”.

Despite his modesty, family man and tech-enthusiast Stjernfeldt has continued from strength to strength in his role as North American Venture Manager for Shell Technology Ventures (STV), the corporate venture capital (CVC) unit for Anglo-Dutch oil major Royal Dutch Shell.

Stjernfeldt said: “The biggest news is that over the last 12 months I have become totally focused on supporting the digital transformation of Shell core business as well as the expansion into renewables. That means today I am squarely focused on investing in digital companies, with initial focus areas being advanced analytics, the internet of things and sensors, blockchain, wearables, robotics, and anything-as-a-service.”

That renewed focus has brought results. Last year, Stjernfeldt helped bring in: “Four new deals – three direct and one indirect – and some good traction with Shell as a customer.”

STV have also had “two portfolio companies raising new money at more than two-times valuation increases”.

Last year, Shell led the $6m series A round for energy analytics software company Innovates in August, established a limited partnership with venture capital firm Autotech, invested an undisclosed sum in Halfway, a Norwegian industry service leveraging artificial intelligence and ultrasound to inspect pipelines, while industrial drone startup Kespry raised $33m in its C round last month with Shell Technology Ventures, Cisco Investments and ABB Ventures joining as new investors.

Daniel Jeavons, general manager for advanced analytics at Shell, at the time of the Kespry deal said: “Industrial drones combined with artificial intelligence and machine learning will make industrial work more efficient and safer. For instance, Kespry drones can help us optimise how we load cargo on to vessels or run inventory analysis in our lay down yards. These technologies give my colleagues powerful new digital tools and important, future-focused skills.”

Stjernfeldt is passionate about CVC, loving the ability to participate across a variety of sectors and levels. Speaking on what attracted him to the industry, he said: “The ability to participate in the energy transformation on a worldwide platform, and frankly, to being outsized value to entrepreneurs. Everything a financial VC brings and strategic value and revenue on top of that! The overlap between IT/mobility and energy is an incredibly attractive market.”

That passion has turned into results, with Stjernfeldt’s career highlights something to be proud of: “A number of my investments have achieved real traction (revenue) within our business units and are executing well. In addition, we have been able to identify a specific scenario that may/will save the $100m-plus annually in predictive maintenance.”

Turning to the broader industry, he pointed out he shared many of the same challenges other CVC firms face: a lack of understanding of the value of corporate venturing at the C-level, something he thinks CVC could approach as an industry.

According to Stjernfeldt, CVC funds should “Share deals with each other first! Let’s have a “corporate first” kind of mindset and let the financial venture firms earn the entry into that club (some are of course very good and deserve our respect and praise!).”