Joel Krikston is managing director of venture investments at pharmaceutical and technology group MSD’s Global Health Innovation (GHI) Fund, a $600m evergreen CVC focused on digital health, data and ecosystem innovation. He spoke about the importance of partnerships in creating long-term synergy between corporates and startups.

Key points for corporate venture investors

  • CVC beyond core R&D
    o MSD GHI deliberately invests outside the company’s core scientific assets, focusing
    instead on data, technology and healthcare infrastructure.
    o This enables the fund to shape the broader ecosystem (e.g. patient access to medicines, evidence
    generation, supply chains) rather than passively relying on it.
  • Ecosystem shaping as strategy
    o The fund positions itself as a catalyst, co-investing widely—even with competitors—
    to build shared “utilities” for the healthcare industry.
    o This reduces competitive tension and expands access to syndicates and deal flow.
  • Strategic value without M&A
    o Most investments are not intended for acquisition; therefore, strategic value must be
    demonstrated operationally.
    o Examples include improving clinical workflows with AI, identifying patients more
    effectively and building access to infrastructure in underserved markets.
  • Enterprise coverage model
    o Each investor is assigned internal business units as “customers”, embedding
    themselves in workflows to identify real problems early.
    o This flips the traditional model from pushing portfolio companies internally to
    pulling solutions based on defined needs.
  • Structured experimentation drives adoption
    o A dedicated pool of non-dilutive capital funds pilot projects with business units.
    o Around 75% of pilots convert into scaled partnerships, providing measurable
    strategic impact.
  • Alignment of financial and strategic returns
    o Equity upside from successful partnerships offsets internal spend, creating a self-
    reinforcing model attractive to corporate leadership.
  • Differentiation in competitive deals
    o A clearly defined “strategic partnership playbook” helps win allocation in
    oversubscribed rounds.
    o Startups value structured access to the corporate over vague promises of
    collaboration.
  • Collaboration as a competitive advantage
    o Sharing best practices and co-investing with other corporates is feasible to enhance collective capability building.

This summary was generated by AI and lightly edited by GCV staff.