The corporate venture capital ecosystem is expanding far beyond the likes of GV and Intel Capital.
The number of new corporate venture arms reached record levels in 2018, according to our latest CB Insights Corporate Venture Capital Report. New CVC firms spanned across a variety of verticals, from logistics and shipping (Maersk Ventures), to auto and mobility (Porsche Ventures), to cryptocurrency exchanges (Coinbase Ventures).
What is Corporate Venture Capital?
Corporate venture capital, or CVC, is a form of venture capital where corporate funds are directly invested in external private companies. CVC funds are managed and invested by specialized divisions of a larger company, such as GV for Google and M12 for Microsoft.
In total, 264 new CVCs invested for the first time in 2018, up 35% year-over-year.
Below, we highlight CVC investment activity by quarter as well as the most active CVCs globally in 2018. We also include our most active CVCs list from prior years.
Quarterly Active CVC Trends
Looking at quarterly trends, Q4’18 saw the highest number of active corporate VCs ever, with 429 CVCs investing in the quarter. This number represents 59% year-over-year growth, up from 270 active corporate investors in Q4’17.
MOST ACTIVE CVCS IN 2018
For the second year running, GV took the top spot as the most active CVC by number of portfolio companies. Salesforce Ventures followed in second place, up from third place in 2017. Intel Capital fell to third place from second place in 2017. Baidu Ventures and Legend Capital rounded out the top five.
| Rank | Investor |
|---|---|
| 1 | Google Ventures |
| 2 | Salesforce Ventures |
| 3 | Intel Capital |
| 4 | Baidu Ventures |
| 5 | Legend Capital |
| 6 | SBI Investment |
| 7 | Alexandria Venture Investments |
| 8 | Kakao Ventures |
| 9 | Mitsubishi UFJ Capital |
| 10 | Fosun RZ Capital |
For a broader look at the most active CVC investors in 2018, here are the top 34 most active CVCs by number of portfolio companies, with firms from a wide swath of industry verticals:
| 1-17 | 18-34 |
|---|---|
| Google Ventures | GE Ventures |
| Salesforce Ventures | Daiwa Corporate Investment |
| Intel Capital | Johnson & Johnson Innovation |
| Baidu Ventures | Cisco Investments |
| Legend Capital | Nissay Capital |
| SBI Investment | Samsung NEXT |
| Alexandria Venture Investments | YJ Capital |
| Kakao Ventures | Monex Ventures |
| Mitsubishi UFJ Capital | GREE Ventures |
| Fosun RZ Capital | NTT DoCoMo Ventures |
| Qualcomm Ventures | CreditEase Fintech Investment Fund |
| M12 | Shell Ventures |
| Comcast Ventures | Novo Ventures |
| Samsung Ventures | Novartis Venture Funds |
| Bertelsmann Asia Investments | LINE Ventures |
| Amazon Alexa Fund | KB Investment |
| Dell Technologies Capital | Citi Ventures |
2017
In 2017, GV took the spot as the most active investor, followed closely by Intel. New entrants to the list included Fosun RZ Capital, a Chinese investment conglomerate, as well as K Cube Ventures, the early-stage venture arm of Korea-based Daum Kakao.
| 1-23 | 24-46 |
|---|---|
| Google Ventures | Robert Bosch Venture Capital |
| Intel Capital | BMW i Ventures |
| Salesforce Ventures | Telstra Ventures |
| Qualcomm Ventures | Unilever Ventures |
| GE Ventures | NVIDIA GPU Ventures |
| Legend Capital | Merck Ventures |
| Microsoft Ventures | Novartis Venture Funds |
| K Cube Ventures | Rakuten Ventures |
| Fosun RZ Capital | YJ Capital |
| Samsung Ventures | Sony Innovation Fund |
| Dell Technologies Capital | MAIF Avenir |
| SBI Investment | Airbus Ventures |
| Comcast Ventures | InMotion Ventures |
| SMBC Venture Capital | Bertelsmann Digital Media Investments |
| Johnson & Johnson Innovation | Bertelsmann Asia Investments |
| Swisscom Ventures | Nissay Capital |
| Cisco Investments | SR One |
| Alexandria Venture Investments | Takeda Ventures |
| Slack Fund | Samsung Catalyst Fund |
| Bloomberg Beta | AXA Strategic Ventures |
| Mitsubishi UFJ Capital | GREE Ventures |
| CreditEase Fintech Investment Fund | Daiwa Corporate Investment |
| Verizon Ventures | CASH Capital Investment Management |
2016
In 2016, Intel Capital and Google Ventures tied for the most active corporate venture capital investors. Salesforce Ventures and Comcast Ventures rounded out the third and fourth spots, while Qualcomm Ventures, Cisco Investments, GE Ventures, and Bloomberg Beta filled out the top 8.
| Rank | Investor |
|---|---|
| 1 | Intel Capital |
| 1 | Google Ventures |
| 3 | Salesforce Ventures |
| 4 | Comcast Ventures |
| 5 | Qualcomm Ventures |
| 6 | Cisco Investments |
| 6 | GE Ventures |
| 8 | Bloomberg Beta |
The top 62 most active CVC investors in 2016 includes a number of names across a variety of industries. Google, Intel, and Salesforce are among those representing the tech industry while firms like Pfizer, Novartis, and SR One are from the healthcare field.
| 1-24 | 25-48 | 49-62 |
|---|---|---|
| Intel Capital | Legend Capital | Saudi Aramco Energy Ventures |
| Google Ventures | Roche Venture Fund | Novo Ventures |
| Salesforce Ventures | Nokia Growth Partners | Hewlett-Packard Ventures |
| Comcast Ventures | SMBC Venture Capital | Corigin Ventures |
| Qualcomm Ventures | Citi Ventures | Ascension Ventures |
| Cisco Investments | Novartis Venture Funds | American Family Ventures |
| GE Ventures | MAIF Avenir | SingTel Innov8 |
| Bloomberg Beta | WuXi Venture Fund | Rakuten Ventures |
| Samsung Ventures | Lilly Asia Ventures | Time Warner Investments |
| Microsoft Ventures | NTT DoCoMo Ventures | Recruit Strategic Partners |
| CyberAgent Ventures | American Express Ventures | Liberty Global Ventures |
| Johnson & Johnson Innovation | Bertelsmann Digital Media Investments | MassMutual Ventures |
| Pfizer Venture Investments | Robert Bosch Venture Capital | Merck Ventures |
| SBI Investment | Fosun Kinzon Capital | Mitsubishi UFJ Capital |
| Slack Fund | Orange Digital Ventures | |
| Siemens Venture Capital | Boehringer Ingelheim Venture Fund | |
| AXA Strategic Ventures | capitalG | |
| Ping An Ventures | Santander InnoVentures | |
| Swisscom Ventures | BlueCross BlueShield Venture Partners | |
| In-Q-Tel | Hearst Ventures | |
| Telstra Ventures | Alexa Fund | |
| Brand Capital | YJ Capital | |
| Verizon Ventures | AbbVie Biotech Ventures | |
| SR One | Nissay Capital | |
2015
In 2015, Intel Capital was the most active CVC investor with investments in companies like iZettle and Docusign, among others. Google Ventures and Qualcomm Ventures rounded out the 2nd and 3rd spots.
Other CVCs represented in the top 10 in 2015 include Comcast Ventures as well as Bloomberg Beta and Cisco Investments.
| Rank | Investor |
|---|---|
| 1 | Intel Capital |
| 2 | Google Ventures |
| 3 | Qualcomm Ventures |
| 4 | Salesforce Ventures |
| 5 | GE Ventures |
| 6 | Samsung Ventures |
| 7 | Comcast Ventures |
| 8 | Bloomberg Beta |
| 9 | Cisco Investments |
| 10 | Novartis Venture Funds |
| 10 | SR One |
CVCs like Amazon’s Alexa Fund as well as Rakuten Ventures are among the firms represented below. Additionally, Asia-based CVCs like Ping An Ventures and Legend Capital were among the most active CVC investors in 2015.
| 1-25 | 26-48 |
|---|---|
| Intel Capital | Pfizer Venture Investments |
| Google Ventures | Alexa Fund |
| Qualcomm Ventures | DG Incubation |
| Salesforce Ventures | Siemens Venture Capital |
| GE Ventures | GREE Ventures |
| Samsung Ventures | Ping An Ventures |
| Comcast Ventures | Citi Ventures |
| Bloomberg Beta | SMBC Venture Capital |
| Cisco Investments | YJ Capital |
| Novartis Venture Funds | Mitsui & Co. Global Investment |
| SR One | Merck Global Health Innovation Fund |
| Legend Capital | American Express Ventures |
| Bertelsmann Digital Media Investments | Eircom Digital Boost Initiative |
| Recruit Strategic Partners | Lilly Ventures |
| Nokia Growth Partners | Robert Bosch Venture Capital |
| Renren Lianhe Holdings | TIM Ventures |
| CyberAgent Ventures | Roche Venture Fund |
| Johnson & Johnson Innovation | Camber Creek |
| Novo Ventures | Dentsu Digital Holdings |
| AXA Strategic Ventures | Fosun Kinzon Capital |
| Google Capital | Tengelmann Ventures |
| Hearst Ventures | BioMed Ventures |
| In-Q-Tel | Microsoft Ventures |
| Verizon Ventures | Rakuten Ventures |
2014
In 2014, Google Ventures was the most active CVC investor in US-based companies.
Intel Capital and Salesforce Ventures rounded out the 2nd and 3rd spots while healthcare funds like Novartis Venture Funds and SR One were among those in the top 10.
| Rank | CVC Investor |
|---|---|
| 1 | Google Ventures |
| 2 | Intel Capital |
| 3 | Salesforce Ventures |
| 4 | Qualcomm Ventures |
| 5 | Comcast Ventures |
| 6 | Novartis Venture Funds |
| 7 | Samsung Ventures |
| 8 | Cisco Investments |
| 9 | Siemens Venture Capital |
| 9 | SR One |
| 11 | Bloomberg Beta |
| 12 | Fidelity Biosciences |
| 12 | Second Century Ventures |
| 12 | GE Ventures |
| 12 | Mitsui & Co. Global Investment |
| 12 | Microsoft Ventures |
| 12 | In-Q-Tel |
| 18 | Verizon Ventures |
| 18 | Johnson & Johnson Development Corp. |
| 20 | Bertelsmann Digital Media Investments |
Below are the top 100+ most active CVC investors in US-based companies in 2014.
A range of industries are represented in the 104 CVC investors below including financial services CVCs like Citi Ventures as well as automobile manufacturer CVCs like GM Ventures, among many others.
| 1-26 | 27-52 | 53-78 | 79-104 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Google Ventures | Pfizer Venture Investments | Fletcher Spaght Ventures | Biogen Idec New Ventures |
| Intel Capital | Citi Ventures | Wells Fargo Startup Accelerator | Western Digital Capital |
| Salesforce Ventures | Dell Ventures | Chevron Technology Ventures | UPS Strategic Enterprise Fund |
| Qualcomm Ventures | Hearst Ventures | Steamboat Ventures | Morgan Stanley Expansion Capital |
| Comcast Ventures | Novo Ventures | Ascension Ventures | AbbVie Biotech Ventures |
| Novartis Venture Funds | UMC Capital | BP Ventures | Zaffre Investments |
| Samsung Ventures | Shea Ventures | Motorola Solutions Venture Capital | Takeda Ventures |
| Cisco Investments | American Express Ventures | Sanofi-Genzyme Ventures | MedImmune Ventures |
| Siemens Venture Capital | AOL Ventures | MS Ventures | ABB Technology Ventures |
| SR One | Telstra Ventures | SingTel Innov8 | Castrol innoVentures |
| Bloomberg Beta | Recruit Strategic Partners | BASF Venture Capital | GM Ventures |
| Fidelity Biosciences | Total Energy Ventures International | TELUS Ventures | Boulder Brands Investment Group |
| Second Century Ventures | Reed Elsevier Ventures | Baxter Ventures | Merck Research Ventures Fund |
| GE Ventures | BlueCross BlueShield Venture Partners | American Family Ventures | First Data Ventures |
| Mitsui & Co. Global Investment | Roche Venture Fund | BMW i Ventures | Karlani Capital |
| Microsoft Ventures | Liberty Global Ventures | Brace Pharma | Nissay Capital |
| In-Q-Tel | Amgen Ventures | Evonik Ventures | CyberAgent Ventures |
| Verizon Ventures | Presidio Ventures | WPP Digital | Astellas Venture Management |
| Johnson & Johnson | NTT DoCoMo Ventures | Swisscom Ventures | Rakuten Ventures |
| Bertelsmann Digital Media Investments | kbs+ Ventures | T-Venture | GE Healthcare Financial Services |
| Merck Global Health Innovation Fund | BBVA Ventures | Kaplan Ventures | Aster Capital |
| Kaiser Permanente Ventures | KDDI Open Innovation Fund | Liquidity Ventures | DSM Venturing |
| Constellation Technology Ventures | WuXi Corporate Venture Fund | R/GA Ventures | Xandex Investments |
| Time Warner Investments | Legend Capital | Renren Lianhe Holdings | SABIC Ventures |
| Lilly Ventures | DG Incubation | Telefonica Ventures | dunnhumby Ventures |
| CAA Ventures | Transamerica Ventures Fund | Robert Bosch Venture Capital | Kiwi Venture Partners |
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