The Art of Corporate Venture

Corporate investors can have a bit of a bad reputation among startups. But what are the main worries and fears and how can they be allayed?

The dollar value of energy venture deals that corporates took part in fell 63% in the second quarter.

As corporate venture capital units compete more with financial VC firms for talented investors, they are having to get creative on compensation packages.

Spinout creation rates vary wildly at universities and intelligent capital and corporate partners have a big role in changing the numbers.

Corporate investors have been part of $3bn worth of AI deals so far this year, with June particularly strong. There has also been a uptick in exits.

Functional foods open the door for innovation in a market that thought it had it all figured out.

The functional food sector is a multi-billion global market with high single-digit expected growth rates.

Invest like a VC, lean into corporate expertise, bring in external entrepreneurs and set up the unit with as much independence as possible.

From joint startup prize competitions to joint investment funds, corporates are increasingly joining forces to source innovation.

Corporate investment units that have business development embedded in their teams tend to outperform those that do without.

As India’s startup sector matures, foreign CVCs are increasingly choosing to set up teams in the country to invest in high growth sectors such as climate tech, fintech and software.