OLNS#4 – Corporate Venture Capital

Corporates are under massive pressure to innovate to compete with new disruptive technologies and a successful CVC program offers more than capital – access to company resources and commercial opportunities are key features that justify CVC’s prominence. This guide serves to share best practices for corporates and start-ups participating in the CVC ecosystem and also to ask important questions that will shape future direction.

OLNS#4 is filled with practical tips for corporates and founders alike and comprehensively presents CVC motives, success factors, incentive schemes and tips for agreements, including:

• Forms of corporate venturing and its dual focus – learning vs. earning
• Current landscape and trends
• Benefits and downsides of CVC from both the corporate's and the start-up's perspective
• How to organize CVC activities, main challenges and common mistakes
• What to look for when hiring external VC and CVC talent
• Incentive schemes
• Cooperating with the corporate’s other business units
• Sourcing and making deals
• The in-house legal team’s role and the investment playbook
• Special deal terms for CVC investments and compliance considerations

In preparing OLNS#4, our international and cross-functional Orrick team again drew on experience representing more than 2,700 tech companies globally, leading venture and private equity investors as well as many of the world’s leading technology companies. Founded in the Bay Area, Orrick is one of the world’s leading technology law firms and ranks #1 for European venture capital transactions (PitchBook, Q4 2019 – 16 consecutive quarters).

You can find an overview of our German Technology Transactions practice, including recent transactions and further publications, here.