Corporate venturing is becoming an important tool for big companies to complement internally driven innovation activities. However, becoming a serious player in corporate venturing requires governance principles and creates cultural dynamics which do not fit into existing corporate environment easily. This article discusses those challenges in detail and suggests ways how to deal with them.
Since venture capital funds started to become a serious player in the financial world and began to have an impact on the world of corporate R&D, big corporations started to play there as well. They set up corporate venture funds shelling out several hundred million dollars in many cases. For example BASF, the globally leading chemical company, has invested about € 150 millions in 23 ventures via their corporate venturing arm (BASF Venture Capital GmbH) since its creation in 2001. Evonik, another innovation focused chemical company recently announced to further strengthen its innovation capacity by establishing a corporate venturing unit within its Innovation Management organization. Evonik plans to invest a total of up to €100 million over the medium term in highly promising start-ups and leading specialist venture capital funds
To read the original article: Driving Innovation by Corporate Venturing: How to Master Governance and Culture Challenges | Innovation Management
