GM Ventures was launched in June 2010 and will be judged to what extent technology it invests in is part of the company's next generation of vehicles.

A good corporate venturer has been described as a renaissance man, someone who excels at a wide variety of subjects and tries to develop their capabilities to the full.

It is, therefore, perhaps no coincidence that US-listed car maker General Motors (GM) has based its corporate venturing team at the Renaissance Center in downtown Detroit.

GM Ventures was started in June with a $100m fund to identify and build relationships with venture capital firms, companies and individuals where its equity…