Corporate Venture Capital, from thesis-building to implementation.
We help our clients design and implement investment vehicles to explore strategic territories of high uncertainty and high impact — with commitment and agility.
A CVC's success is largely tied to its strategy and the thesis adopted.
Corporate venture capital (CVC) in Brazil went through a slowdown and is now at a turning point in terms of maturity.
Between 2021 and 2022, low interest rates and the fear of missing out on digital disruption led many large Brazilian companies to set up CVC arms. The stock market rewarded the move — but it was strategy and a consistent thesis that separated the successful CVCs from those that were eventually discontinued.
The companies leading in CVC succeeded and expanded their investments over time.
See the point of view of successful CVCs →On the other hand, many were discontinued due to inconsistent theses and a lack of alignment with the business — across four main perspectives:
Believing that financial return is enough
The decision to do CVC was born as a response to a market fear. Without a well-defined thesis that speaks to the portfolio, and with an exclusive focus on financial return, the investment becomes vulnerable — especially when the cycle tightens.
Ignoring the corporate levers
The best entrepreneurs don't look for capital alone. They seek the combination of corporate levers such as access to sales channels, installed base, revenue, technology infrastructure, market knowledge, purchasing power and brand strength.
A governance and decision model without agility
The timing of investment decisions in a company doesn't match the funding needs of a high-growth startup. That's why the governance and decision-making model must provide the agility needed to keep up with funding rounds.
Expectations can't be only financial
CVC has great potential to create strategic value for the company, and that value must be considered when designing the theses. From the operating model to the governance of the investment arm, the design must be aligned with the executives who decide the vehicle's future, to unlock that value by connecting it to the company.
What a well-structured CVC solves
Initiatives adjacent to the core
Explore territories where the company sees growth potential but doesn't yet have a clear conviction to enter. The investment works as a real option: while the territory matures, it doesn't require higher-commitment decisions.
Capability
Accessing and incorporating emerging competencies shortens the learning curve and reduces the time required, enabling strategic investments and returns in synergy with the business.
Intelligence
The investments create a closer, more strategic relationship with those building the sector, which becomes an invaluable source of intelligence. The deal flow passing through the company works as a sensor for technology and new business models.
Economic viability
Beyond the strategic return, well-structured and well-run CVCs generate financial returns in line with the risk profile of these investments.
Vehicles structured for strategic territories.
- Eucalyptus biomass
- Sustainable packaging
- Forest tech
- Carbon removal
- Regenerative solutions
- End-customer relationship
- Direct-sales force productivity
- Emerging technologies
- Fashion and lifestyle
- Retailtechs, e-commerce and marketplaces
- Logistics and supply chain
- Fintechs
- Martechs
We've also structured programs in steel, energy, construction and healthcare.
How we structure your company's CVC strategy.
Across four fundamental stages, we map market information and define the objectives together with the executives who know the business strategy.
We build the theses many hands in, bringing our sector expertise and concrete venture capital investment data, and connecting that with the business expertise and the company's executive layer.
Strategic framing
We identify, within the company's own strategy, the themes that make sense to address via CVC.
- Understanding the company's strategy
- Identifying priority themes with a fit for CVC
- Building the strategic narrative for the CVC
Thesis building
We cross the strategic themes with what the venture capital market is actually financing and size the vehicle from that history.
- Survey of VC investments in the themes
- Definition and refinement of the discussion with executives
- Mapping success cases and a quantitative survey of venture capital investments in the prioritized themes
- Working sessions with the company's executives to refine and align the scope
- Sizing the vehicle and the committed capital, with scenario proposals
Operating model
We propose how the vehicle will work: legal structure, decision governance, processes and team.
- Design of the deal flow process and decision governance
- Design of the management team and the relationship with the parent company
- Refinement of the vehicle sizing
- Indication of potential partners for implementation (e.g., fund managers)
- Consolidation and defense of the CVC proposal to the Board and the company's executive leadership
Implementation support
Once the decision is made, we lead the setup through to the vehicle's launch.
- Identification of target investments
- Recruitment and selection of the vehicle's team
- Launch and start of operations
What CVC is and why it's strategic
Jaime Frenkel walks through the structuring journey and the decisions that define a corporate venture capital vehicle.
Corporate Venture Capital Structuring Framework
The alternatives for each decision variable and what each choice implies in cost, governance and ability to influence.
Download the framework ↓PDF, one page.
The first step is understanding whether CVC solves a real problem in your strategy.
We map the themes in your strategy and assess which of them fit corporate venture capital. If none do, that's a useful answer too.
