Corporate Venture Capital's Complex Agenda

by Mary Stuart

With the bursting of the high-tech bubble, many information technology firms washed their hands of corporate venture capital. After losing millions—and sometimes billions—in the Internet boom and bust, many companies shuttered their corporate venture operations. According to the Corporate Venturing Report, the number of companies worldwide that had venture funds dropped from a high of 350 in mid-2000 to 200 at the end of 2001. Since early 2001, the public equity financing window has shut, limiting venture capital firms' exits. Yet in the life sciences, pharmaceutical and medical device companies are creating venture groups with greater frequency than ever. In the past two years Merck & Co. Inc. , Eli Lilly & Co. , IBM Life Sciences , Yamanouchi Pharmaceutical Co. Ltd. , Takeda Chemical Industries Ltd