A number of major groups have ventured into the financial and strategic support of small businesses, through Corporate Venture Capital or CVC funds.
These include Sodexo Ventures, Construction Venture, ALIAD (Air Liquide), Airbus Venture Capital, MM Innov’ (Malakoff Médéric Humanis), Edenred Capital Partners, SNCF Digital Ventures, MAIF Avenir, Orange Digital Ventures, Safran Corporate Ventures, Michelin Ventures, ADP Invest, SEB Alliance, Convivialité Ventures (Pernod Ricard), Engie New Ventures, Via ID (Norauto group), Alliance Ventures, Danone Manifesto Ventures, Axa Venture Partners, Mérieux Développement, LVMH Luxury Venture, Bouygues Développement, Alliance Ventures (Renault-Nissan-Mitsubishi)…
Which investment focus?
Corporate investors generally invest in startups close to their core business. This is the case for Safran Corporate Venture and Bouygues Développement, but also for the funds of major pharmaceutical and chemical groups.
But they can also move away from their core business and have a specific investment focus (like a VC fund). This category includes funds from mutual insurance companies (often for impact projects) and Orange, for example.
What are their investment strategies?
Most corporate funds operate like traditional VC funds. They are often present alongside other investors (venture funds, business angels, Bpifrance…). They are not necessarily interested in being the future buyer of the startup.
Others, on the other hand, have found in financing start-ups a way of offshoring part of their R&D, and thus gaining access to innovation with the aim of eventually integrating the start-up into the group.
WHAT SHOULD WE BEAR IN MIND?
The decision to bring in a corporate fund is never neutral for a company, especially when the scope of the investment corresponds to the company’s core business. So, before making this very specific choice, you need to find out what has happened to the startups in which the corporate funds have invested, and ask yourself the following questions:
– Am I cutting myself off from certain market players? If BASF is a shareholder in my startup, will I be able to work with Bayer or Boehringer Ingelheim?
– Will I retain my independence?
– When I sell my company, will the corporate entity be the only potential buyer, and will I therefore be able to sell my company at its fair value?
Contact us
For more than 15 years, Multeam has devoted itself exclusively to fundraising.
The company has thus successfully carried out more than 100 deals.