In a testament to how durable the sector has become, only two individuals have left the industry that has made our top 25 list in the two years since we began publishing the list.
Corporate venturing has now entered the mainstream of corporate strategy in large part because of the impressive individuals on this list.
In a testament to how durable the sector has become, only two individuals have left the industry that has made our top 25 list in the two years since we began publishing the list. This continuity will doubtless have helped corporate venturing units deliver value to their parent companies and such consistency will aid the industry’s quest for a wider acceptance amongst the wider venture capital and entrepreneurial worlds.
With 1100 corporate venturing units globally, the industry has now doubled in size in the last five years. This growth has been made possible by the example set by those who have made our popular publication.
For a second year running Arvind Sodhani, head of Intel Capital, has topped the Powerlist. Sodhani has built Intel Capital into a venture capital leviathan. With a portfolio of more than $11bn invested in the past 20 years, Intel Capital is perhaps the largest technology venture investor globally and the organisation continues to be the one that most people looking to enter corporate venturing turn to when they want to learn more about how it is practiced.
Moving up to second this year reflecting strong investment results is Nagraj Kashyap, head of Qualcomm Ventures, the corporate venturing unit of the US-based semiconductor company, with the relentless rise of its China-based mobile handset portfolio company Xiaomi, indicating the firm is developing a deft investment touch to add to its multi-billion dollar exits of Waze, NetQin and InvenSense.
Charles Searle, of Naspers’ investment unit MIH, another top-ranked regular of the Powerlist, came in at third place. Naspers, which owns large stakes in Tencent, and in London Stock Exchange-listed internet company Mail.ru Group, which is Russia’s largest internet company, has made its mark as a company through venture investing, perhaps like no other.
The remaining top 25 who were recognised in an awards ceremony in Half Moon Bay at our Triple Helix Venturing conference were, in order:
Ralf Schnell, Siemens Venture Capital;
Claudia Fan Munce, IBM Venture Capital;
Hugo Shong, IDG Capital Partners;
Deborah Hopkins, Citi Ventures;
Bill Maris, Google Ventures;
Jon Lauckner, GM Ventures;
Woi Hong Choi, Samsung Ventures;
Reinhard Ambros, Novartis Ventures;
William Taranto, Merck Global Health Innovation Fund;
Zhu Linan, Junlian;
Brad Vale, Johnson and Johnson Development Corporation;
Harshul Sanghi, American Express Ventures;
John Ball, Steamboat Ventures;
Sue Siegel, GE Ventures;
Tony Askew, Reed Elsevier Ventures;
Kemal Anbarci, Chevron Technology Ventures;
Dominique Mégret, Swisscom Ventures;
Issam Dairanieh, BP Ventures;
Mark Read, WPP Digital;
George Coyle, ConocoPhillips Technology Ventures;
Jens Eckstein, SR One; and
Rahul Sood, Microsoft Ventures.
The number of sectors and regions corporate venturing now stretches into is remarkable, with Chinese, Japanese, Swiss, South African, Korean, German or UK corporate dealmakers making as big waves as those at US companies nestled in the heart of Silicon Valley.
The entire list has excelled in their achievements and are to be praised for their leadership as the corporate venturing industry comes of age. We look forward to tracking their progress as the industry expands.
Download the Powerlist here.
