The Art of Corporate Venture

May was a busy time for exits; GCV reported various multimillion and multibillion deals across sectors.

We provide a brief overview of some of the notable exit transactions reported last week. They highlight a broader upward trend in exit transactions for corporate investors, which we have been tracking for some time now.

Sector report: Media

Solid-state battery developer Solid Power secured a $130 series B round co-led by its potential customers from the automotive sector BMW and Ford Motor Company.

A decade or more after setting up the golden age of corporate venturing units were set up with a focus on life sciences and healthcare, such as US-listed conglomerate Alphabet’s GV (formerly known as Google Ventures) and US-listed drugs company Merck’s Global Health Innovation Fund (GHIF), and the returns have surpassed many expectations.

Shapeways is another company from the 3D printing space, which has gone public through a reverse merger, after its peer Desktop Metal in 2020. The additive manufacturing space has seen a somewhat modest interest from corporate investors in the past decade.

Apple last week introduced AirTag, “a small and elegantly designed accessory that helps keep track of and find the items that matter most with Apple’s Find My app”.

The marketing automation technology provider's previous backer Susquehanna International Group returned for its series C round that has pushed to new highs.

Q1 analysis: Venturing deals still concentrated in non-core areas, more exits reported in the first quarter, average deal size dropped slightly

CO2 is the focus but limiting emissions is hard; capturing, using and storing offers opportunities; but critical under investment in innovation

TDK Ventures and XTX Ventures participated in a sizeable round raised by the advanced computing technology provider Groq at a unicorn valuation. The company is part of the larger artificial intelligence (AI) space, which has seen much and sustained interest by corporates in recent years.