Steady is the assessment that comes to mind, rather than remarkable, when probing the year-on-year direction of corporate venture capital investment in university spinouts.
Against a backdrop of annual rises in overall dealflow tracked by Global University Venturing since 2016, the proportion of rounds featuring corporate investors remained static at around 30% in 2017 and 2018.
While the numeric count hit a four-year high of 226 last year from 147 in 2017, in percentage terms neither year could match 2015 or 2016, when corporates participated in about 35% of transactions.
Such fine detail risks pedantry, as the overall picture shows corporate investment…
