Mix and match: Corporate diversification and CVC portfolio strategies

The literature on venture capital (VC) has investigated the determinants of portfolio composition and the effects it has on both the investors? and the investee companies? performance. However, with Corporate Venture Capital (CVC), one might expect the relationship to be different as investments in entrepreneurial ventures are strategic means for corporations to learn about new markets and/or technologies. In this paper we analyze the strategic use of CVC by exploring the relationship between the corporate strategy of the parent firm and her CVC portfolio strategies. The analysis uses data on a sample of 234 US public corporate investors in the period 1996?2006 and shows how the level of corporate diversification of the parent firm influences the scope of her CVC funds, and how this differs depending on whether one considers corporate diversification andJeplocrotfdoeliso:Ls2c1o,pOe3f2rom a market or a technology perspective.