VISIONS OF VC
For many big nontech companies, the best way to
innovate quickly is to fund startups that pioneer
their future business. BY EMMA HAAK
The future: Mobile
entertainment for all
By supporting early-stage
companies—such as Control4,
whose universal-remote apps command TVs, thermostats, and more,
and Viewdle, whose augmented-reality tech can recognize human
faces—Best Buy gets first dibs on
the next-gen mobile products they
create, “which gives [the retailer]
a decided edge over its competition,” says Tim Bajarin, president
of consumer-tech consultancy
Creative Strategies.
BEST BUY
The future: Not just a car—a
smart urban-navigation system
“We want to go beyond the vehicle,” says BMW i Ventures VP Ulrich
Quay. The automaker’s year-old
fund has committed roughly
$100 million toward mobile apps
that tell drivers when, for example,
it would be faster to take the subway (accounting for lights and traffic), or how to best navigate cities
by foot. Those investments are a
great way for the high-end car-maker to “connect with a younger,
more tech-savvy demographic of
buyers,” says Dominique Bonte, a
transportation-tech analyst at
ABI Research.
BMW
The future: Synthetic
diamonds are forever
Element Six, the De Beers subsidiary
that manufactures synthetic diamonds, funnels millions to startups
that use the stones—known for
their high thermal conductivity and
resistance to radiation—in all kinds
of products. Among them: radiation
detectors (from U.K.–based Diamond Detectors), semiconductors
(from Diamond Microwave Devices),
and electrochemical reactors that
treat wastewater and landfills (from
Advanced Oxidation). “It’s really a
growth vehicle,” says Susan
Wheeler, managing director of Element Six Ventures.
DE BEERS
The future: A streamlined
medical system
The health-insurance behemoth is
pouring roughly $300 million into
startups such as Nexidia, whose
analytics help improve customer
service; InVivoLink, which tracks
and analyzes data from medical
implants; and Phreesia, whose
software simplifies how doctors
register patients and accept co-
pays. By improving the medical
system, BCBS could “lower costs
for itself and its customers, which
is right in line with its corporate
goals,” says Michael Liang, a part-
ner at the Chicago investment firm
Baird Venture Partners.
BLUECROSS BLUESHIELD
56 FASTCOMPANY.COM MARCH 2012
• ADIDAS
Name of fund:
Hydra Ventures
Launched in:
July 2011
• NIKE
Name of fund:
Sustainable Business
and Innovation Lab
Launched in:
September 2011
• AMERICAN
EXPRESS
Name of fund:
Digital Commerce
Investment Initiative
Launched in:
November 2011
THE NE WES T ROUND OF INVES TORS
