Corporate Venture Capital Programmes in China and India

Corporate venture capital is one of the multiple mechanisms available to corporations to help them bring in innovations from outside. In tracing the history of CVC, Siva Sakthiraj Rajamani and Professor S Ramakrishna Velamuri highlight its distinct features vis-à-vis pure financial venture capital, and document the rise in CVC activity in China and India. Corporate venture capital (CVC) is a distinct subset of the venture capital (VC) industry, wherein a firm invests corporate funds directly in external start-up companies, typically in return for a minority stake. CVCs differ from the broader VC industry in the rationale behind the investments; they do not focus on financial returns alone, but also seek to fulfill strategic objectives. This study aims to understand CVC programmes in India and compares CVC deal activity in India and China.