Marc Thom (Henkel Ventures): CVCs can outperform VCs

Most VCs think corporate venture capital is slower, more conflicted and structurally weaker than traditional venture firms.

Marc Thom, Corporate Vice President and Head of Henkel Ventures, argues the opposite and explains why the best CVCs may actually outperform traditional VCs over time.

In this episode, Marc joins Andreas Munk Holm and Jeppe Høier to discuss how Henkel built one of Europe’s leading corporate venture platforms, why most startup-corporate partnerships fail and how corporates can create both strategic and financial advantage through venture investing.

Topics covered

• Why the best CVCs can outperform VCs
• How Henkel structures venture investing and partnerships
• The “holy bible” behind startup collaboration inside corporates
• Why most startup partnerships fail internally
• The role corporates should play on startup cap tables
• How AI is reshaping industrial R&D and materials science

Timestamps

• (00:00) Why CVCs can outperform traditional VCs
• (04:00) How Henkel structures startup sourcing and partnerships
• (11:00) The use case framework behind Henkel Ventures
• (16:00) The “Role of Henkel” in startup investing
• (23:00) Why Henkel invested in ResearchGate
• (27:40) AI, chemistry and the future of industrial R&D
• (30:20) Why Marc believes CVCs can outperform VCs
• (36:00) How Henkel built internal alignment for venture investing

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