Category: Podcast

Should CVCs want more independence?

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What does it mean for a corporate venturing unit to be independent? Is that a structural dimension or a cultural one?

What are the benefits of having more separation from the mothership, and can it so have drawbacks?

GCV senior reporter Kim Moore joins us to discuss these questions and more.

Be sure to like, share and subscribe to GVR, and above all, enjoy the show.

“Funky Chunk” Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)
Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0

The collapse of FTX – where next for crypto?

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We’ve got a big, ongoing story that’s been causing serious ripples across one of the fastest growing industries of the past few years.

FTX, the third-largest cryptocurrency exchange in the world, which also has one of the largest corporate venture capital units in the crypto/Web3 sector, has filed for bankruptcy amid swirling allegations of pretty significant malfeasance.

GCV’s special features editor Rob Lavine is back on the pod to talk about the ripple effects of FTX’s collapse and the implications it has on the crypto world. This is a developing story so by the time this episode comes out, there are likely to have been additional revelations about the situation, so do keep up with our coverage on globalventuring.com.

“Funky Chunk” Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)
Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0

The Next Wave: Which is a harder job to do: VC or CVC?

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On this episode we’ll be listening to the latest in Global Corporate Venturing’s new live webinar series, The Next Wave, which deals with an interesting question which is sure to bring up some strong opinions, and that is, Which is a harder job to do: VC or CVC.

In this discussion, GCV’s Senior Editor, Maija Palmer, speaks to Lisa Suennen from Venture Valkyrie and Heriberto Diarte of Quantum Innovation Fund about the relative challenges between these two, ostensibly similar jobs.

They talk about everything from the implicit challenges of the roles, to how they are remunerated (whether carry is a good idea), what the best fund structures are, the time-consuming process of dealing with internal stakeholders, dealing with management change, reckoning with startups that are weary of CVCs and more.

The Next Wave is a monthly live webinar held on the second Wednesday of each month, and next month, on the 14th of December, it will be on Spacetech and how CVCs have a role to play in an industry whose ultimate aims include making the human species multiplanetary, and we’re getting some great names lined up so keep an eye out for updates to be sure to register online.

“Funky Chunk” Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)
Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0

Is antitrust a problem for US CVCs?

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We’ve got GCV’s very own Kim Moore back with us to talk about the rising antitrust scrutiny in the US market and the implications it has for CVCs when they’re looking to invest, exit their investments or even consider the board seats they take.

For CVCs in the US, antitrust isn’t something that can just be dismissed as a hurdle for M&A people anymore, they will have to consider how it trickles down into the venture ecosystem they play in.

For more check out the article on GlobalVenturing.com.

“Funky Chunk” Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)
Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0

Vitor Mascarenhas Santos: EDP Ventures Brasil

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Vitor Mascarenhas Santos is the head of EDP Ventures Brasil, the Brazil-based arm of energy utility EDP’s corporate venture capital unit.

With its Portuguese parent company already boasting a significant presence in Brazil, Mascarenhas talks about where EDP Ventures Brasil sees the biggest growth potential of the Brazilian energy sector, and how coming regulatory changes, such as deregulation of energy markets, will pave the way for new investment opportunities.

He also speaks about the differences between investing from EDP Ventures Brazil versus investing from the EDP Ventures Portugal, as well as the CVC’s ambitions across the LatAm region and its plans to evolve its strategy over time.

“Funky Chunk” Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)
Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0

Artur Faria: Oxygea

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Artur Faria is CEO of Oxygea, a new CVC arm of Brazil-based Braskem, which was just announced last month.

Like a growing number of CVCs, Oxygea combines venture investment with venture-building activities (also known as CVB), the latter for which the unit plans to have 10 companies in its accelerator programme at any given time.

With Oxygea’s focus trained on sustainability and the digital transformation, Faria speaks about how capital will be allocated across its various functions and how Braskem has already rolled over several companies into its CVB portfolio.

He also talks through the inception of Oxygea and the rationale behind it, how he sees innovation progressing in Latin America and how corporates should walk their innovation talk.

Be sure to like, share and subscribe to the GVR podcast.

“Funky Chunk” Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)
Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0

Dr. Samuel West: Museum of Failure

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Dr. Samuel West is a licensed clinical psychologist and specialist on organisational psychology, who is also the creator and curator of the Museum of Failure, a travelling collection of products that have failed in the conventional sense, but represent something far more important, which is the willingness to fail.

Anyone working in corporate innovation, corporate venture capital, or in any field of innovation will know that the fear of failure, the unwillingness to fail, effectively means the death of innovation. Without the appetite for risk, without the understanding that not every initiative will be successful, you’re left with an incredibly narrow path to creating anything new.

So what lessons can we draw from our own failures and those of others? Dr. West talks about the differences between good and bad failures, how organisations are not that different from individuals in terms of how they view and deal with failures, the importance of creating a psychologically safe environment where failure is not punished, and how he went about putting this impressive collection of corporate relics together.

“Funky Chunk” Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)
Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0

Rodrigo Gruner: Vivo

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Rodrigo Gruner is director of innovation and new business at Vivo, the Brazilian subsidiary of telecoms company Telefónica, which earlier this year launched its own CVC unit, Vivo Ventures.

On this episode of GVR, Gruner speaks about where Vivo Ventures fits within Telefónica’s venturing ecosystem alongside other units like Wayra and Telefónica Ventures, and how its investment focus across areas like finance, healthcare, entertainment and education bring value to its core telco platform, even if the CVC itself leaves aside the “pure” telco plays.

He also talks about a host of other topics such as Vivo Ventures’ first-ever investment in open finance platform Klavi, the regional features in Latin America – such as an under-penetration of financial products like credit cards – that are driving growth in the CVC’s focus areas, as well as how Latin American corporates are advancing in their innovation journeys.

“Funky Chunk” Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)
Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0

Bill Reichert: Pegasus Tech Ventures

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Bill Reichert is partner at Pegasus Tech Ventures, a VC as a service firm that makes venture investments on behalf of corporations. This is a model that has been on an upwards trajectory in recent years, as different corporates find themselves at different stages along their innovation journey and sometimes they need outside help, so they reach out to firms like Pegasus and others to help them navigate the venture capital ecosystem.

Reichert talks about the VCaaS model, its advantages and why some corporates choose to go that route as opposed to building their own units, and why the model is gaining so much popularity. He also talks at length about the history of corporate venture capital and how CVC as a service is the latest iteration of it – calling it CVC 4.0. Corporations, Reichert says, recognise that they need to innovate in order to survive, and just because a corporate might already have a CVC doesn’t mean that they don’t partner with firms like Pegasus anyway.

With a multi-sector array of partners, Reichert explains the challenges involved in formulating a strategy for each of them based on their individual needs, and how sometimes they need a lot of help getting the prerequisite groundwork and culture of innovation in place to enter the venture pool.

“Funky Chunk” Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)
Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0

Can record investment in agtech fix global food insecurity?

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We are joined once again by GCV’s very own Kim Moore, who has recently written an article exploring a hugely important topic, food insecurity, a topic which has been aggravated by recent events such as Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, itself building on top of already longer-running themes like climate change and covid-related global supply chain shocks.

However, we’ve also seen a massive increase in venture capital flowing into agriculture technology round the world, which has massive potential to alleviate food shortages and maximise productivity and access to enabling services like financial technology across the industry.

Can record investment in agtech fix global food insecurity?

“Funky Chunk” Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)
Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0