Why was ST New Ventures established?
We believe that semiconductors are on a new long lasting pervasion wave in which More than Moore (but not only) plays a key role. Personalized healthcare to mention only one example, will be mostly enabled by it. Investing in start-ups that have ambition to build or disrupt those markets is the best way to understand early what will happen.
But we invest equally to make a financial return.
What do you bring other than money?
We, directly and with ST, bring a deep understanding of the semiconductor industry, from technology to products, manufacturing and markets, worldwide. In addition, we bring our own experience of building new businesses enabled by technology. We see our contribution as very complementary to pure VCs.
On which application do you focus?
Semiconductors pervade so many areas that we can't limit ourselves to any particular applications. What really matters to us is the new use of them. History has always surprised us. This being said, we believe that healthcare, cleantech and smart infrastructure, will benefit enormously from semiconductors. In addition, to give only a couple of examples, security and image analytics are areas where we think a lot will be created. But we welcome proposal from any area, provided that semiconductors play a key role somehow for your company.
Do you have a geographic focus?
Innovative technologies are increasingly developed and meet markets all over the world. As such we don't have a specific geographic focus. We can afford to do that because we focus on the strategic value we bring, relying on pure VCs for working closely with management on operational matters. Of course we have to make choices and connect more with a dozens of ecosystems where we think start-ups we'd be interested in are more likely to emerge, but we welcome proposals from anywhere.
Does a portfolio company need to have a business relationship with ST?
No. We make arm's length investments. But we are of course committed to help the development of any exchange and relationship with ST, still at arm’s length, when and where it makes sense to both sides.
Do you have acquisition in mind when you invest?
No, we really invest to understand how markets develop in relationship with silicon and semiconductor and for a financial return. And we believe that for corporate VCs to work well with companies and pure VCs, they must not have acquisition in mind.
Are you only interested in semiconductor technology companies?
We are really interested in understanding where and how semiconductors will be used in a big way next. Technology companies can be good indicators, but so are also products or even service companies, as often in emerging industries where everything has to be built.
