Corporates beware — investing in startups is a different ball game

Globally, CVC represents close to ~25% of all venture investments, totaling over $50 billion spread over ~2700 deals in 2018. This reflects corporates’ increasing value perception of investing in startups, as they see how such investments can lead to increased innovation power, understanding of disruptive technology and the opening of new markets.

It is a known fact that investing in startups is not the same as buying shares in the open market, nor is it the same as investing in established privately held companies. So how come some corporates investing in startups seem to miss that startup investing is truly a different ball game?

In this post I address some of the issues that arise when corporates invest in startups, and elaborate on some of the situations I have witnessed where I believe corporate investors (including their advisors) need a shift in mentality.

Read the full article on Medium.com here