Understanding the strengths and limitations of corporate venturing
According to BCG’s 2024 innovation study, 83% of senior executives rank innovation among their top three priorities. They put it into practice by leveraging different corporate venturing tools from partnering with startups to building new business or launching CVC funds. These efforts have become essential parts of how organisations explore new opportunities, tap into emerging technologies, and stay competitive in fast-changing markets.
Yet despite their importance, many of these initiatives don’t always achieve their full potential in turning innovation into sustained, long-term growth beyond the core business.
Let's explore five core corporate venturing tools and understand their unique strengths and limitations.
1. Venture clienting: for rapid learning and little ownership
Venture clienting lets corporates access startup innovation quickly by acting as early customers. It's most effective for solving a specific existing problem, often one related to core processes. It’s low-risk, with little need for control and delivers fast results, but scaling remains a challenge for many organisations. Because corporates don’t own equity or IP, the value creation stays with the startup. According to the State of Venture Client Report 2023, while 75% of companies know the model, only about 30% have a structured approach to scale solutions effectively. The result: while pilots are common, only a smaller share translate into lasting ventures.
2. Corporate venture capital: for strategic investments and entering new markets
Corporate venture capital (CVC) aims to bridge corporate strategy and startup agility through equity investments. Through obtaining a minority stake in startups, corporates are able to enter new markets quickly. CVC connects long-term vision with emerging technologies. Yet achieving measurable returns can be challenging, especially when balancing financial and strategic goals. A 2022 Journal of Technology Transfer meta-analysis found that while CVC investments drive strategic outcomes like patents and product launches, they show no consistent link to superior financial performance compared to traditional VCs. The learning value is clear, though translating it into measurable financial or transformational impact often proves difficult.
3. Venture acquisition: for obtaining full control and acquring knowledge fast
Early-stage venture acquisitions let corporates buy into innovation early - securing tech, teams, and learning before the market matures. Buying innovation can accelerate progress, but it doesn’t always translate into long-term transformation. Only about one in four such deals sustain growth post-acquisition (BCG, 2023). The key success factor isn’t ownership, but how integration happens: keeping the startup autonomous long enough to scale its model while gradually connecting it to corporate assets. Addressing key dimensions, like structure, governance and execution is key which is why we introduced a comprehensive New Business Operating Model in our 2025 study.
4. Venture building: for innovating beyond the core and generating new revenue streams
Venture building creates new ventures from scratch using corporate’s assets and expertise. Done right, it can unlock strategic growth, generate new non-core revenue streams and diversification. Corporates have full control and are able to efficiently leverage corporate assets. Nonetheless, certain challenges remain especially when it comes to venture scaling. According to our 2025 study about the state of corporate venture building, 33% of participants say that among all phases of venture building scaling is the toughest. At the same time, operational friction is rising as 54% of companies now see governance and internal processes as the main obstacle. Venture units are built for efficiency, autonomy, and experimentation. But these traits can sometimes conflict with established corporate processes. That's why top management commitment is critical to securing resources, maintaining focus, and navigating volatility.
5. Company creation fund: for generating new business in a fast and capital-efficient way
Each of the traditional innovation vehicles – from venture clienting to CVC, venture building, and acquisitions – plays an important role, but some struggle to combine speed, ownership, and scalability in a single setup, especially in times of reduced budgets. Company creation funds, also known as venture studios, do exactly that.
They are designed to systematically create, build, and scale multiple ventures within a focused vertical, not as one-off experiments but as repeatable growth engines. By combining entrepreneurial execution with access to corporate assets, they address the most common corporate innovation challenges:
- Integration and speed: Ventures are built independently of corporate governance, yet remain strategically aligned with the participating partners’ long-term goals, combining startup agility with strategic relevance.
- Ownership and upside: Risk and reward are shared across 5–7 corporate investors and the fund, ensuring all stakeholders have real skin in the game and benefit from collective success.
- Scalability: The model is designed for portfolio creation, building multiple ventures, leveraging shared learnings, and compounding impact rather than running isolated pilots.
- Capital efficiency: Shared infrastructure, experienced venture teams, and a proven playbook make company creation a faster, leaner path to new revenue streams.
- Strategic impact: Focused verticals turn combined corporate resources into a diversified venture portfolio that drives sustainable, long-term growth.
For corporates, this means a structured, capital-efficient way to grow beyond the core, turning innovation from a series of projects into a system for long-term business creation. Ventures built within these funds are 71% more likely to reach Series A and record 2x more successful exits in comparison to traditional startups.
Turning innovation into a growth system
The company creation approach isn’t meant to replace venture building or CVC, it complements them. It gives corporates a dedicated vehicle to systematically explore new growth horizons while staying strategically connected to their core business.
At whataventure, we see this as the natural evolution of corporate innovation: moving from isolated initiatives to a repeatable system for building scalable ventures. Through the whataventure fund, we co-create ventures with corporates, combining capital, experience, and access to assets to turn new business ideas into measurable growth.
Curious how company creation could drive long-term impact for your organisation? Check out whataventure.fund!
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