Corporate Venture Capital: Past Evidence and Future Directions

Abstract

This article reviews the academic literature on corporate venture capital, that is, minority equity investments by established corporations in privately-held entrepreneurial ventures. It starts with a detailed definition of the phenomenon. An historical background of Corporate Venture Capital (CVC) is presented, followed by an extensive review of CVC investment patterns. The article then presents scholarly findings beginning with firms' objectives, through the governance of their CVC programmes and the relationships with the portfolio companies and ending with a review of corporate, venture and CVC programme performance. The article concludes with directions for future research.