Corporate investors based in the United Kingdom constitute the second largest community in Europe, though with 22 responding units, they may not provide a definitive picture in the Keystone data set.
Respondents included both a mature subset of the market (50% are ‘Resilient’ CVCs with large funds and financial accountability) and nascent programmes (18% investing without formal units). Although 82% invest from the balance sheet, 70% are targeting VC-level financial performance and 74% are meeting targets on total value to paid-in capital (TVPI). UK corporate investment units have the highest global penetration of CVC platform teams for parent engagement and operations. The UK market is also the most active in venture building.
CVC’s influence in VC ecosystem
13.6%
of UK VC funding rounds include CVCs, participating in deals representing 44.9% of total value
CVC community maturity
91%
are established CVCs, with 50% having achieved ‘Resiliency’
CVC fund size
78%
have assets under management (AUM) exceeding $100m, 22% have greater than $1bn
CVC role in corporate innovation
52%
cite financial returns as the top priority, 40% also give top rating to Horizon 1 innovation
Corporate venturing toolkit
55%
are engaged in venture building, with 41% also leveraging active parent tech scouting efforts
CVC operating model
82%
invest from the balance sheet, with 41% of those driven by theme and business unit priorities
Geographic investment focus
86%
invest in the US and Canada and 50% in Asia-Pacific, in addition to Europe
Financial performance targets
70%
aim for VC-level or top-quartile portfolio performance, 74% are meeting TVPI targets
Team size and structure
55%
have teams of more than five members, 63% of teams average five or more years of experience
CVC compensation levers
53%
of units report having a financial upside programme (‘carry’), 35% receive parent equity
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