Corporate Venture Capital

We decided to participate in the new INSEAD program Corporate Venturing & Innovation because we’re always curious to learn from leading experts and practicioners. One of those experts is Professor Claudia Zeisberger, founder of INSEAD’s private equity & venture capital centre GPEI. She kicked off with an insightful overview of the private equity industry and how Venture Capital (VC) works. VC is a game of outliers; 8 out of 10 startups fail and very few start-ups end up generating the majority of returns. 

Corporate Venture Capital (CVC) is a form of venture capital where a large corporation invests in startups aligned with their strategic interests. This space used to be dominated by tech companies, but CVC units can now be found across all industries. In 2010 Corporate VC funds were responsible for 38% of the deal value in the USA, today it’s 77%. In Europe CVCs are also growing, representing 25% of total venture capital funding in 2024 according to Dealroom.

To understand how CVCs work in practice, Claudia Zeisberger invited an expert panel with CVC directors Geert van de Wouw (Shell), David Dalfassy (TDK),  Michel Hunsicker (EDF) and Vincent Brillault (Audacia). Some key take-aways from this discussion where the importance of clarity on the mandate and understanding what your added value is beyond providing capital – and being able to proof this by inviting founders to speak to other founders in your portfolio. Another interesting point was the balance between making sure you have enough autonomy while at the same time spending enough time engaging with business units to ensure synergies. And: speed matters. CVCs must operate at a startup pace, being able to decide fast.  This has consequences for how you organize your investment committee and internal alignment.

What would be a reason for your company to invest in external startups? Or do you prefer to create new ventures internally?