/ Jun 21, 2023
Venture investing leaders from Mach49, the Growth Builder for Global Businesses, will speak this week at the Global Corporate Venturing (GCV) Symposium in London. GCV brings together the largest group of European corporate venture capitalists, showcasing their ability to navigate economic uncertainties, and invest in transformative business models that further spur digital transformations and achieve ambitious climate and sustainability goals.
Kevin Ye, Chris Cusack, Christian Lindener, Mark Hannan, Patrick FitzGerald, and Vincent Poizat from Mach49, which partners with Global 1000 corporations to drive growth through venture investing, strategic partnerships, and targeted M&A, will lead a keynote and panel discussions on how a multifaceted investment strategy builds a bridge between the corporate and startup worlds to power new forms of impact and collaboration.
During their sessions “Enabling Partnership for Climate Sustainability: It's Time To Transcend Your Swim Lane”, “Upleveling Your CVC Efforts: Lessons On Making the Leap from Good to Great,” and “Propelling the Growth Engine in Europe and Beyond: Coupling Venture Building with Investing to Accelerate Impact” discussions, they will highlight that amid concerns of an impending recession freezing much of the venture capital industry, savvy CVCs continue to invest and add value to startups by leveraging their inherent “Mothership” advantages.
Moving the needle on the world's biggest challenges
Kevin Ye, Mach49 Managing Partner of Venture Investing, emphasizes the pivotal role played by CVCs. “Corporate venture investing is a powerful way for corporations to have an outsized impact on global problems like climate change,” says Ye. “Every corporate dollar that’s invested well, aligns the incentives of the most influential entities that drive our industries, encouraging them to do the important work needed in the world: moving the needle on solving the world’s most pressing problems, including climate change, energy, education, disease, population health and water.”
Mach49 was founded on the belief that global businesses are unique among investor types in having the scale, reach, and resources to tackle these pressing issues, accelerating startup solutions to faster and wider impact when deployed correctly. "In the next few years, CVC portfolios will expand into their critical adjacent sectors, fundamentally transforming industries while benefiting our climate and planet."
CVCs in Europe Poised to Invest and Accelerate
While the overall venture capital landscape witnessed a staggering 25% decrease in deal activity in 2022, corporate-backed venture capital deals declined by just 2% in 2022 worldwide, according to data from GCV. But the European scene paints a picture of acceleration: in the UK, Germany and France, the number of deals shot up by 21% year over year. In addition, last year saw a record number of new CVC units established, with 101 units launched or expanded globally.
The GCV Symposium features corporate venturing successes like TDK Ventures, which has made the fastest ascent in corporate venture history and is breaking new ground. The company has just selected London as the site of its first outpost in Europe and with their latest fund, Fund EX1, TDK Ventures has earmarked an additional $150 million to their assets under management for early-stage startups building a sustainable future in energy transition. TDK Ventures is set to make a significant impact by accelerating ventures focused on energy generation, energy storage, energy utilization, conversion, and decarbonization.
Joining these innovators at the GCV Symposium is Hines, one of the largest privately held real estate investors and managers in the world, with more than 96 million square feet of property assets in 395 cities across 30 countries. Kathryn Scheckel, Managing Director and Head of Global Venture Lab at Hines, will share how the company is rethinking the boundaries of real estate around the world through innovative ventures, partnerships, and human-centric solutions.
About Mach49
Mach49 partners with global businesses to build their growth engines through venture building, venture investing, venture transformation, strategic partnering, and targeted M&A. We are 100% focused on execution, helping our clients disrupt existing markets and create new ones to drive meaningful growth.
The company is a unique cadre of successful serial entrepreneurs, venture capitalists, and C-suite executives who have collectively generated over $60B in market value over their operating careers in companies they've invested in, managed, created, or built. Mach49 was founded by Linda Yates, author of The Unicorn Within: How Companies Can Create Game-Changing Ventures at Startup Speed (HBR Press, October 2022)—named "10 Best Business Books of 2022" by Forbes, and recently selected by Malcolm Gladwell and Dan Pink as one of "7 Startup Books Every Entrepreneur Should Read." Mach49 is headquartered in Silicon Valley with offices in Redwood City, Boston, London, and Amsterdam. www.mach49.com
