A Venture Client is a company that purchases, uses and adopts startup solutions with the purpose of obtaining a strategic benefit.[1][2][3] Venture clienting enables companies to tap into new technologies, business models and ideas and foster a culture of agility and growth.[4]
The difference between a “normal” client and a venture client is that the startup solution presents a high risk of failing.[2][5][6] The venture client company accepts the additional risk because the startup product solves a strategically relevant problem better than alternative solutions.[6][7][8][9] The problem is strategic when it impacts the competitiveness of the venture client company.[10] The differentiating factor between traditional Corporate Venture Capital (CVC) and Venture Clienting (VCL) is that, in essence, the latter focuses on the purchase of a startup product to obtain the strategic benefit without an equity stake.[11] The term venture client was coined originally and popularized by Gregor Gimmy.[6]
Companies that can benefit strategically from startup partnering chose to establish a dedicated corporate Venture Client Unit. The purpose of such an organisational unit is to enable the entire company to gain competitive advantage from startups on a continuous basis.[12] Such venture client units operate on a dedicated venture client model, referring to venture client specific processes and resources, and are categorised as a corporate venturing vehicle.[2][9][13]
↑Gutmann, Tobias; Greiss, Sebastian; Hüttenhein, Christian (2024). Venture clienting: how to partner with startups to create value. London New York, NY: Kogan Page. ISBN978-1-3986-1694-3.
↑Siota, Josemaria; Andrea Alunni; Paola Riveros-Chacón; Mark Wilson; Mattias Karlsson Dinnetz (2020). Corporate Venturing: Insights for European Leaders in Government, University and Industry (Technical report). Publications Office of the European Union.