NVCA Today

NVCA's Corporate Venture Group (CVG) has reached an all-time high with 57 corporate members as part of its roster. The upswing in membership is reflective of what we are seeing within the venture capital community as a whole. In 2010, corporate venture investment represented 10% of all venture investment and was involved in 14% of all deals (click here for additional stats through 2011 Q3). In addition, there is an imperative for partnership with large corporations for start-ups given the dominance of mergers and acquisitions as the primary exit route. Corporate partners often provide a source of non-dilutive capital as well as a global reach for early stage companies. In return, these start-ups offer a growth opportunity and innovation to the corporation. A continued decline in the number of venture firms last year has also created an opportunity for talent to view corporate venture as a career opportunity.

In acknowledgement of the importance of strategic investors within the venture capital ecosystem, the NVCA Board of Directors invited the CVG Advisory Board to present an overview of past activities and current initiatives during the NVCA Board's quarterly meeting on December 1, 2011 with the intent of further collaboration and to create sustainable alliances with this subset of the NVCA membership. The following provides a brief synopsis of the presentation:

The NVCA Corporate Venture Group executive committee began the 2011 year with the objective to continue to provide value for our membership while creating greater collaboration and alignment with the broader venture capital community. This objective led us to focus on 3 themes:

1. Partnership
2. Globalization
3. Talent

The catalysts behind these themes were the changing investment landscape as well as the resurgence of corporate venture investments. In order to better align our objectives to meet these new market challenges, the Corporate Venture Group sub-committees have focused our initiatives on the three core themes. We also elected to create a new sub-committee focused on Outreach and the primary objective of this group is to develop and lead efforts that create leverage for CVG's across external constituencies.

A summary follows of each sub-committee and the accomplishments that have been achieved thus far.

Membership, headed by Janice Mawson, VP Membership NVCA

9 new CVG members since June 2011:

ABB Technology Ventures, Akamai , Amgen Ventures, BlueCross Blue Shield Venture Partners,
BP Technology Ventures, Johnson Controls, Lilly Ventures, RUSNANO USA, Rogers Ventures
 

1. Events Committee headed by Jacqueline LeSage-Krause, VP Corp Ventures, Hartford Financial Services Group
   The events committee organized a record Summit event with over 80 attendees, which was held at the Nike campus in Beaverton, Oregon on November 2.
    
2. Education Committee, headed by Elaine Jones, Executive Dir., Pfizer Venture Capital
   The education committee is currently working on 2 initiatives:
    
   1. Legal Clauses favored and /or required by corporate venture funds in investment documents
      • The committee is working with the NVCA legal task force to assemble a list of terms and rationale for inclusion and examples of such language. The objective is to incorporate this information into NVCA model documents with legal task force endorsement.
   2. Identification of educational topics of interest to members
      1. The sub-committee conducted a survey to identify and prioritize areas of interest to the CVG membership.
      2. Results of survey became available in October and will be used to develop programs for the 2012 calendar year.
         1. Examples of programs include whitepaper publications and live broadcasts and webcasts
3. Outreach-New Committee this year headed by Steve Socolof, Managing Partner New Venture partners and Phil Giesler, Director of Innovation Physic Ventures
   The Outreach programs currently in progress are:
    
   • 1. To assist entrepreneurs, venture capitalists and corporate venture groups, the team developed a survey and will work with the NVCA build a searchable database for investment interests of CVC's.
     2. Identified incubators and venture forums that might be of interest to CVC's and will work with the NVCA to put this online.
     3. Going forward, the team spurred a policy day where CVC members can meet with the NVCA policy committee to learn and discuss policy initiatives and to discuss how CVC's can be of assistance.

• Adams Capital Management, Inc. – Lisa Frankovitch, Chair
• Adobe Systems, Inc. – Paul Weiskopf
• Chevron Technology Ventures – Matt McElhattan
• Citi Ventures – Chris Kay
• The Dow Chemical Company – Kevin McElgunn
• DuPont Ventures – Mary Kay James
• Hartford Ventures – Jacqueline LeSage Krause
• IBM Venture Capital Group – Claudia Fan Munce
• Intel Capital – Alex Marquez
• Microsoft Corporation – Dan'l Lewin
• New Venture Partners, LLC – Steve Socolof, Incoming Chair
• Nike, Inc. Sustainable Business & Innovation Lab – John Hull
• Pfizer Venture Capital – Elaine Jones
• Physic Ventures (Unilever) – Phil Gielser, Immediate Past Chair
• Second Century Ventures (National Association of Realtors) – Constance Freedman
• SVB Capital – Gerald Brady

For more information about NVCA's Corporate Venture Group, its activities, or how you can become involved, please contact Janice Mawson at: This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it or 703-524-2549.