Not unlike law firms, large companies constantly struggle to drive change within their organizations. When faced with monumental shifts such as the internet boom, iPhone or, more recently, analytics and artificial intelligence, several companies have profited—financially and, at times, strategically—through investments in the entrepreneurial, often smaller, companies pioneering change. Many, including big brand names Microsoft, Intel, Merck and even General Mills, do this through corporate venture capital arms, or CVCs.
Between 2012 and 2016, the number of CVCs more than doubled, according to CB Insights. In 2016 alone, more than 100 new companies entered the venture funding game and nearly 200 distinct groups invested in 4th quarter 2016 alone. Rather than wait on the sidelines as new technologies disrupt their industries, large corporations across a wide variety of sectors have found ways to encourage, explore and integrate game-changing advances into their portfolios. Today, as the pace of change continues to increase, so too does the recognition by large companies that perhaps the fastest way to the top is not to rebut change—or even create it–but to ignite it.
