Media conglomerates use startup investing as outsourced R&D and new-market surveillance

Evidence

A subset of venture capital in which large, nonfinancial firms invest corporate funds into smaller, external startup companies that they believe have long-term growth potential. Comcast Ventures and Disney Accelerator are examples. At a later date, the equity stakes acquired through CVC may be transferred into financial gains or an acquisition target. Corporate venture capital also serves strategic interests, such as research and development by proxy, resource and intellectual property acquisition, and information gathering on new markets and technologies. CVC accounts for roughly 15 percent of all venture capital activity since 2000. — Andrew deWaard, Derivative Media, 485

Categorization

• XREF: Comcast Ventures and Disney Accelerator as research-and-development-by-proxy is a concrete vehicle by which a studio absorbs tech-distribution innovations into its slate.
• SEED: Angles on Disney/Comcast venture arms spotting the streaming-shift startups early as a precursor to their own platforms.