The Top Corporate Venture Capital Funds Every Founder Should Know About

When founders go out to raise venture capital, they come across a variety of fund sizes and shapes that come from different places. One type of venture capital fund comes from big corporations. And hence, they are referred to as corporate venture capital funds, or, for short, “CVCs”.

Here are some of the benefits that come from fundraising from a CVC.

• Product/market fit —the CVC parent may provide access to their customers for product/market fit exercises.
• Revenue growth — the CVC parent’s customers may become a startup’s customers.
• Experts/knowledge — the CVC parent may support a startup by providing domain experts from within the corporation that can propel startup growth.
• Capital — if a CVC is seen as a strategic investor and invests in a startup, that startup is likely to attract additional capital.

With that in mind, below I share the top corporate venture capital funds every founder should know about. Expect to learn about the following.

• CVC Data + Trends
• Top 10 global corporate venture capital (CVC) funds
• CVC interest in Healthcare
• Most active CVCs in AI, Auto-Tech, and CPG

CVC Data + Trends

Globally, CVCs invested $31.3B in 1,791 deals in 2017, and the market shows that CVC is in the incline.

On average, CVCs are investing more than VCs.

And there are more new CVCs popping up every year.

Note that CVCs are engaged in early-stage.

The Top 10 CVCs

CVCs Dollars Grow in Healthcare and Mobile

CVCs are investing in healthcare at record levels. Between 2016 and 2017, the amount invested increased by 27%.

Between 2016 and 2017, the amount invested in mobile companies increased by 26%. Note: the number has been inflated by 2 Didi Chuxing deals.

CVC Dollars Decline in Internet Companies

CVC investment was down 9% in 2017 YTY.

Most Active CVCs in AI

Nearly 150 global CVCs backed AI companies in 2017. Intel Capital was the most active CVC by a significant margin, backing over 15 unique AI companies throughout 2017.

Most Active CVCs in Auto-Tech

Nearly 50 global CVCs backed auto tech companies in 2017. Intel Capital tied Samsung Catalyst Ventures for the most unique auto tech investments, each backing 5 companies in 2017.

Most Active CVCs in CPG

Over 15 global CVCs backed CPG companies in 2017. Unilever has acquired a number of notable brands, such as Dollar Shave Club, in recent years.

Sources

• Report — Global CVC 2017 by CBInsights
• Post — Everything You Need to Know About Corporate Venture Capital in 2017

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About

Lolita Taub is the Co-Founder and General Partner at The Community Fund and acting interim Head of Sales at Catalyte. She is a first-generation Latinx operator and investor pushing for diversity in tech. With 15 years working within the Silicon Valley ecosystem, she has accomplished +$50 million in sales and made 38 investments as an angel investor and VC at Backstage Capital. Lolita is also a Co-Founder of the Startup-Investor Matching Tool, a scout at Indie.vc, Venture Partner at NextGen Venture Partners, and an LP at Operators Collective. Forbes, Inc, and Entrepreneur have featured her as a women in tech promoting diversity. She has a BA from the University of Southern California and an MBA from the IE Business School. Most importantly, she is a dog mom to the cutest Dachshund mix, Choco.