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The venture capital arms of established companies occupy an important role in the venture capital ecosystem. During the past four years more than 475 corporate venture funds have started, bringing the worldwide total to more than 1,100, according to Global Corporate Venturing magazine. Corporate venture capital firms can offer deep industry specific expertise, operational skills and infrastructure support to start-up ventures. They can identify potential extensions their core businesses, allowing large companies to innovate faster, conduct research on disruptive technologies and pre-empt competitors. 
This panel of top corporate venture investors from different industries, covering automotive, retail, electronics and telecommunications, explores the difference between corporate venture capital firms and their traditional peers, the investments they have made, and the advantages they offer entrepreneurs. 
Speaker Biographies:
Christian Noske is an Investment Principal with <A HREF="http://www.bmw.com/com/en/insights/corporation/bmwi_ventures/" REL="nofollow">BMW i Ventures</A>. Christian focuses on early stage investments in Navigation & Traffic, Smart Parking and Consumer Internet. He also manages BMWs incubator space in New York and is the organizer of the NY Future Mobility Meetup and the HackTheDrive Hackathon in San Francisco. Prior to joining BMW i Ventures, Christian was CFO for a digital agency that was acquired by WPP, and worked in Finance and Business Development for Robert Bosch GmbH in Germany and Asia. Christina Bechhold is an investor at Samsungs <A HREF="http://www.samsung.com/us/ssic/" REL="nofollow">Global Innovation Center</A>, focused on early stage investments in software and services. She is also Co-Founder and Managing Director of Empire Angels, a member led angel group of young professionals investing in technology startups with a focus on supporting young entrepreneurs. She is a regular contributor to the Wall Street Journal on startups and small business, a mentor at The Brandery, a Venture for America mentor as well as a member of VFAs Rise Committee focused on increasing diversity in entrepreneurship. She is a frequently speaker and panelist at events in both the U.S. and Europe. Christina was previously a Vice President at Citigroup with background in capital markets, emerging markets and structured finance. She serves as Chairman of Hope on a String, a non-profit, grassroots organization that seeks to foster an environment of social transformation and economic development in Haiti through participation in music as well as Vice President of the Board of Governors of the Hotchkiss School Alumni Association.
J. Skyler Fernandes is the founding Managing Director of <A HREF="http://www.simonventuregroup.com/" REL="nofollow">Simon Venture Group</A> (SVG). SVG is the largest venture group focused on retail, ranked by CB Insights as a top 5 corporate venture fund in the US in the retail space, and is the venture capital arm of Simon, an S&P 100 company and the largest retail real estate company in the world with US retail sales that are larger then Amazon.com and Apple combined. Simon Venture Group invests in the future innovation of retail, focusing on improving the overall shopping experience and omni-channel retail strategies. Vertical focuses include in-store retail tech, ecommerce, data analytics, logistics, internet of things, and retail brands. SVG makes investments between $250K-$5M+ in early stage to high growth companies (Seed through Series C+ rounds) that are both directly to Simon and its retailers, by taking a hands on approach of identifying retailer's biggest challenges and investing in solution providers that are innovating the future of retail.
Fernandes gave the first TEDx Talk on Venture Capital, called "<A HREF="http://tedxtalks.ted.com/video/TEDxConnecticutCollege-Skyler-F" REL="nofollow">Innovating the Financing of Innovation</A>" and has developed key entrepreneur resources, such as "The Best Startup Pitch Deck", the #1 investor pitch deck template online, viewed and downloaded over 300,000 times and is used by accelerators and business schools around the country. Fernandes also co-founded with his wife the board game, <A HREF="http://www.nextbigthingboardgame.com/" REL="nofollow">The Next Big Thing: The Game of Entrepreneurship</A>. Fernandes graduated a year early from New York University, summa cum laude, due to his studies at Harvard University in Quantum Physics. He is also an adjunct professor at NYU, teaching Intensive Venture Capital, is on the board and faculty of Bard's MBA, and is a frequent speaker on venture capital at Harvard Business School and Wharton Business School.
Andrew Cleland is a Managing Director of <A HREF="http://www.comcastventures.com/" REL="nofollow">Comcast Ventures</A> in New York. He has led investments in, and is a board director of, FanDuel, Enigma.io, SundaySky, Windsor Circle, and Lytics. Before joining Comcast Ventures, Andrew was a managing director at Time Warner Investments where he invested in Simulmedia, PlaySpan, and Visible World among others. Previously, Andrew was the Chief Operating Officer of TrustTheDJ.com, a UK-based music start-up. He started his career with Booz Allens Media and Entertainment Group in London. Andrew has an MA in Economics (1st class) from Edinburgh University, and an MBA from INSEAD in France. 
Monday, December 14, 2015
Time: 5:30 - 8:00pm 5:30 to 6:00 - Registration 6:00 to 7:00 - Discussion and audience Q&A 7:00 to 8:00 - Cocktail reception 
Venue: Mayer Brown, 1221 Ave. of the Americas, between 48th & 49th Sts., NY 
Price: $15/Member $15/Member guest (limit two) $25/Non-member alumni $35/Non-alumni No refunds will be given. Program is off the record.
Organizer: Ken Shoji '92, Anusha Reiss '05
Sponsors for the Outstanding Investor Series: <A HREF="http://www.mayerbrown.com" REL="nofollow">Mayer Brown</A> is one of the largest law firms in the world with 1500 lawyers in key business centers across the Americas, Europe and Asia. The firm advises many of the worlds largest companies, including a significant share of the Fortune 100, FTSE 100, DAX and Hang Seng Index companies and most of the worlds largest investment banks. The firm is renowned for its corporate and securities, appellate, litigation and finance practices. Mayer Brown brings a global reach and client-focused approach, offering integrated advice on complex matters worldwide.