Dave Smith was a former GCV Powerlist award winner at Corning and sat on the board of X Display and Versalume.

Dave Smith, former head of corporate venture capital and director of mergers and acquisitions (M&A) at US-based industrial glass maker Corning, has joined cosmetics producer Estée Lauder (ELC).

At ELC, Smith has taken the role of senior vice-president for new business development and reports to Andrew Ross, executive vice-president for strategy, new business development and integration. His hire follows the promotion of Shana Randhava to run new incubation ventures, a new role under Ross.

Ross said: “[Smith] brings to ELC a blend of analytics and creativity, as well as an outstanding skillset in building and managing complex relationships with key stakeholders throughout the M&A ecosystem.”

At Corning, where he was a GCV Powerlist award winner, Smith’s deals had included View, Menlo Micro, SigmaSense, Luminar, and he has taken board seats at portfolio companies X Display and Versalume.

Before joining Corning, Smith had been a senior director of mergers and acquisitions at e-commerce company eBay’s global corporate development group for a year.

Smith holds a bachelor’s degree in economics from University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and an MBA from University’s Pennsylvania’s Wharton School.

James Mawson

James Mawson is founder and chief executive of Global Venturing.