<article><p>Corporate venture capital activity picked up in the first half of 2017 on the back of an increase in the formation of new VC units of established global enterprises.</p></article>

<p>Corporate venture capital activity picked up in the first half of 2017 on the back of an increase in the formation of new VC units of established global enterprises.</p>
<p>According to <span style="color: #000080;"><a href="https://www.cbinsights.com/research/report/corporate-venture-capital-trends-2017-h1/" target="_blank" rel="noopener"><strong>data</strong></a></span> compiled by venture capital intelligence platform <span style="color: #000080;"><a style="color: #000080;" href="http://dealstreetasia.com/tag/cbinsights" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer"><strong>CB <span style="color: #000080;">Insights</span></strong></a></span>, 102 new CVC arms invested in the first half of this year, up 65 per cent from H2 2016. New CVC firms include Nasdaq Ventures and Boeing HorizonX.</p>
<p>In the first half of this year, corporate VCs participated in 798 deals worth $13.3 billion globally, an increase of 12 per cent over H2 2016 in terms of deals completed, and 8 per cent increase in the total capital invested. This is in line with the prediction that <span style="color: #000080;"><a style="color: #000080;" href="https://www.dealstreetasia.com/stories/corporate-venture-capital-eyes-bigger-play-vc-investments-telstra-study-60249/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer"><strong>corporate venture capital will contribute to an increasingly larger proportion of overall VC investments</strong></a></span>.</p>
<div class="page" title="Page 18">
<div class="section">
<div class="layoutArea">
<div class="column">
<p>CVC units appear to favour investments at the seed and growth stages with deal sizes averaging $20.5 million compared to institutional VC deal sizes that averaged $15.5 million.</p>
<p>Q1 2017 saw corporates participate in 125 deals and provide $6.6 billion in funding, more than any quarter in 2016. For Q1 2017, they reached 40 per cent of deal share, compared to 31 per cent in Q4 2016.</p>
</div>
</div>
</div>
</div>
<div class="page" title="Page 7">
<div class="section">
<div class="layoutArea">
<div class="column">
<figure id="attachment_79473" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-79473" style="width: 700px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><a href="https://media.dealstreetasia.com/uploads/2017/08/corp-participation-asia-tech-investing-cb-insights.jpg"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="wp-image-79473 size-full" src="https://media.dealstreetasia.com/uploads/2017/08/corp-participation-asia-tech-investing-cb-insights.jpg?resize=640,471" alt="" srcset="https://media.dealstreetasia.com/uploads/2017/08/corp-participation-asia-tech-investing-cb-insights.jpg?w=700 700w, https://media.dealstreetasia.com/uploads/2017/08/corp-participation-asia-tech-investing-cb-insights.jpg?resize=300,221 300w" sizes="(max-width: 700px) 100vw, 700px" data-recalc-dims="1" /></a><figcaption id="caption-attachment-79473" class="wp-caption-text"><strong>CVC backing of Asian tech startups</strong></figcaption></figure>
<p>&nbsp;</p>
<h3>CVC deal activity increased in both quarters of H1 2017 in India and China.</h3>
<p>In H1 2017, CVC deal activity in India increased substantially from the four deals that occurred in Q4 2016. Notable deals this year include a $55 million Series D to Practo Technologies, a $31 million Series D to Mswipe Technologies, and an $18 million Series C to OneAssist Consumer Solutions.</p>
<p>Some corporate venture capital players in the subcontinent include the likes of Wipro, Intel Capital, SAP Ventures, Cisco Investments, Brand Capital (an offshoot of The Times Group) and Qualcomm Ventures.</p>
<p><a href="https://media.dealstreetasia.com/uploads/2017/08/cbinsights-h1-2017-CVC-India.png"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-79475" src="https://media.dealstreetasia.com/uploads/2017/08/cbinsights-h1-2017-CVC-India.png?resize=640,475" alt="" srcset="https://media.dealstreetasia.com/uploads/2017/08/cbinsights-h1-2017-CVC-India.png?w=700 700w, https://media.dealstreetasia.com/uploads/2017/08/cbinsights-h1-2017-CVC-India.png?resize=300,223 300w" sizes="(max-width: 700px) 100vw, 700px" data-recalc-dims="1" /></a></p>
<p>Meanwhile, the same period in China saw deal activity increase by 64 per cent from 28 investments in H2 2016, with $1.6 billion in capital invested across 46 investments. Chinese firms are <span style="color: #000080;"><strong style="color: #000080;"><a style="color: #000080;" href="https://www.cbinsights.com/research/asia-tech-top-corporate-investors/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">among the most active CVC players in Asia</a></strong></span> after Japanese corporates; Tencent, Legend Capital, Fosun Kinzon Capital and Baidu are notable startup backers.</p>
<p>However, the standout was Chinese internet major <span style="color: #000080;"><a style="color: #000080;" href="http://dealstreetasia.com/tag/tencent" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer"><strong>Tencent Holdings</strong></a></span>, the most active corporate investor in Asian technology startups for Q1 2017, backing over 30 total investments in venture-backed technology enterprises since Q1 2016.</p>
<p>Most of its activity was concentrated in China and almost exclusively focused on mobile or internet software/services and e-commerce businesses. Some of Tencent&#8217;s portfolio firms include China-based bike-sharing startup <span style="color: #000080;"><a style="color: #000080;" href="http://dealstreetasia.com/tag/mobike" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer"><strong>Mobike</strong></a></span> and Q&amp;A site Zhihu. It also backed India-based <span style="color: #000080;"><a style="color: #000080;" href="http://dealstreetasia.com/tag/flipkart" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer"><strong>Flipkart’s</strong></a></span> $1.4 billion Series J round, participating alongside corporate investors eBay and Microsoft.</p>
<p><a href="https://media.dealstreetasia.com/uploads/2017/08/cbinsights-h1-2017-CVC-China.png"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-79474" src="https://media.dealstreetasia.com/uploads/2017/08/cbinsights-h1-2017-CVC-China.png?resize=640,468" alt="" srcset="https://media.dealstreetasia.com/uploads/2017/08/cbinsights-h1-2017-CVC-China.png?w=700 700w, https://media.dealstreetasia.com/uploads/2017/08/cbinsights-h1-2017-CVC-China.png?resize=300,219 300w" sizes="(max-width: 700px) 100vw, 700px" data-recalc-dims="1" /></a></p>
<p><strong>Also Read:</strong></p>
<p><span style="color: #ff0000;"><strong><a style="color: #ff0000;" href="https://www.dealstreetasia.com/stories/lessons-for-indian-start-ups-from-cb-insights-listing-of-186-unicorns-63247/">Lessons for Indian startups from CB Insights listing of 186 unicorns</a></strong></span></p>
<p><span style="color: #ff0000;"><strong><a style="color: #ff0000;" href="https://www.dealstreetasia.com/stories/vc-money-seduced-by-india-only-to-die-there-anand-sanwal-74459/">VC money seduced by India only to die there: Anand Sanwal, CB Insights</a></strong></span></p>
<p><span style="color: #ff0000;"><strong><a style="color: #ff0000;" href="https://www.dealstreetasia.com/stories/singapore-st-engineering-78769/">Singapore: ST Engineering launches $150m corporate venture capital unit</a></strong></span></p>
<p><span style="color: #ff0000;"><strong><a style="color: #ff0000;" href="https://www.dealstreetasia.com/stories/mark-sherman-telstra-ventures-62103/">Strategic fit, strong entrepreneurs key to corporate venturing: Mark Sherman, Telstra Ventures</a></strong></span></p>
</div>
</div>
</div>
</div>


Corporate venture capital has grown in Asia, with deal activity picking up in both India and China as more corporates invest in venture-backed startups.

Corporate VC activity in Asia sees uptick in H1 2017 amid global surge

Bring stories like this into your inbox every day.

Sign up for our newsletter - The Daily Brief

Corporate VC activity in Asia sees uptick in H1 2017 amid global surge

Start your deal-making journey now!

Bring stories like this into your inbox every day.

Sign up for our newsletter - The Daily Brief