Consumer

Corporate investors have become pivotal players in VC markets around the globe, able to move markets. It’s now time to press our advantage.

Goman, who previously headed BAT's cannabis unit, takes over from Juan Palacios as head of Btomorrow Ventures.

Some 37 corporate-backed startups were bought in February in sectors ranging from semiconductors and skincare to pharma and robots.

There were 42 corporate-backed startup funding rounds in China in February, up 27% from the previous month. Most of these were backed by Chinese tech giants such as Tencent and Baidu.

If a venturing unit want to maximise a startup’s chance of scaling its technology in a corporate, it should become a customer, says Cencosud Ventures’ Pascual.

Investor interest in self-driving cars is booming again as commercial services have started operating. These are some of the opportunities that are emerging.

January 2025 saw 53 corporate-backed startup exits, marking a 47% year-on-year increase and the highest total since early 2023, with deal values soaring to $4.52bn.

The volume of CVC deals jumped 31% from a year ago, while the return of large deals pushed up the value of funding rounds by 167%.

The number of corporate investors has tripled in the last decade and they are now part of one in every six startup funding rounds.

Takeshi Munemasa worked in various corporate development roles at Japan's Norinchukin Bank before taking on his new role.

The new US Trump administration's policies will likely lead to far-reaching changes in health, defence, crypto, semiconductor and energy sectors.