Corporate VCs Very Busy… in California

Corporate venture groups increased spending last quarter, with the bulk of their investments going to companies in California.

Those were some of the findings from a report published today by CB Insights, a venture and angel data provider, which found that corporate venture investment hit a five quarter high in Q2. Overall, corporate venture groups participated in 118 deals, or 15% of total funding rounds.

They’re also taking on bigger rounds. While overall average deal size stayed flat at $10 million over the last 5 quarters, deals in which corporate venture groups participated have gotten markedly bigger, hitting an average of $17.8 million in Q2, the report found. Funding went primarily to mid- and later-stage companies, although corporate VCs did do a number of seed deals, particularly in Internet and mobile sectors.

Overall, Internet investment saw the biggest gain among corporate VCs, with funding jumping 60% quarter-over-quarter. Healthcare spending was also up, led by a $100 million round for healthcare management software provider Castlight Health. Cleantech also saw its highest  corporate funding tally in four years, driven in large part by a single $392 million round raised by electric car maker Fisker Automotive in April.

As for location, California remains the top destination for corporate venture capital deals, with companies in the Golden State securing a whopping 58% of all corporate venture rounds. Massachusetts and New York were a distant second and third.

Only deals in which corporate venture groups participated were included in the report.  Minority investments made by corporations that do not have clearly demarcated corporate venture arms were not included. The full report is here.

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