Bertelsmann Capital Ventures pushes networking between European groups in promoting start-ups
Munich (ots)
Corporate Venture Capital Roundtable in Munich with international attendance
The heads of corporate venture-capital units of leading companies throughout Europe are having a high-powered get-together to compare notes across industries, on Thursday in Munich. The talks are also geared towards creating a joint forum for corporations to promote young growth ventures in Europe in a targeted way.
While many classical venture-capital companies are acting more cautiously in this difficult capital market environment, the venture capital units of major corporations find themselves in an advantageous situation. Corporate venture capital is more important than ever in times when purely financial investors are increasingly reticent and apprehensive. In addition to providing the necessary capital, major companies can also take advantage of their existing brands and customer relationships to ensure the success of an investment. Jan Kantowsky, Executive Vice President of Bertelsmann Capital: "We are striving to network the expertise of groups across a variety of industries in an effort to foster young growth ventures in Europe in a targeted manner."
The Corporate Venture Capital Roundtable has already taken place twice at the national level; this is the first time it is being extended to a larger circle, and includes participants from European countries outside Germany. Thus, major corporations like Siemens, DaimlerChrysler, SAP, Deutsche Post and Deutsche Telekom are now being joined by international companies with a strong European focus, like Philips, GE Capital, Intel, IBM or Accenture.
Among other things, the Corporate Venture Capital Roundtable will discuss the effects of the capital market crisis on technology-oriented growth ventures, and the possibilities of cooperating with Venture Capital corporations with no company affiliation. Topics specific to portfolio management will also be addressed.
High-ranking external specialists like Robert Womsley, Managing Director of Schroeder Salomon Smith Barney's Global Private Equity Group, and George Coelho, General Partner at Benchmark Capital, will contribute to the discussion. T-Venture and DaimlerChrysler having organized the first two events, the organizer of the third event in the series is Bertelsmann Capital Ventures, which since April 2001 unites Bertelsmann AG's activities in the area of strategic minority holdings.
Bertelsmann Capital Ventures
Bertelsmann Capital Ventures (BCV) was founded in April 2001 and bundles Bertelsmann AG's activities in the area of strategic minority holdings. BertelsmannValley is the BCV unit specializing in seed-stage financing. BCV aims to promote media and technology growth ventures that may contribute to Bertelsmann's core businesses.
For further information please contact: Susanne Erdl Media and Financial Relations Tel.: +49 - 52 41 - 80 25 35 Susanne.erdl@bertelsmann.de
Original content of: Bertelsmann SE & Co. KGaA, transmitted by news aktuell