US-listed chemicals company Dow is an old hand with new tricks when it comes to corporate venturing by moving its strategy towards strategic rather than financial goals.

Chemistry underpinned the industrial revolution in the 19th century, but rather than become commoditised by the biological and information technology revolutions, the science has had a new lease of life and with it a rise in margins and sales.

The importance of the new technologies has resulted in a shift to a more strategic direction for Dow Chemical’s corporate venturing unit, Dow Venture Capital, one of the world’s oldest and most successful groups.

Dow Chemical posted a 26% jump in…