The Corporate Innovation 100
Exploring the top 100 companies backed by corporate venture capital
There are a number of ways to find emerging companies, from businesses backed by venture capital trusts through to the organisations raising the most from crowdfunding platforms.
However, another method — and arguably a better indicator of startup success — is to explore early-stage companies that are backed by existing corporates.
In this article, we’ll examine the makeup of companies backed by corporate venture capital and uncover the major funders behind these startups.
Why corporates back early-stage companies
There are a couple of reasons why well-established corporates back startups.
One is a longer-term view to eventually acquire the business or its IP in order to plug a gap in their own commercial offering. Another is from a more commercially speculative angle, whereby a corporate fund invests with a view to making profit from a later exit such as via an IPO.
We see this in Microsoft’s enormous investment in OpenAI, where Microsoft sought to gain a first mover advantage and secure exclusive rights to host its models on Azure by investing in the developer of ChatGPT, the world’s largest and most popular AI chat tool, despite developing its own proprietary tool in Microsoft Copilot.
The top five most active corporate funds (by value invested)
The top five most active corporate funds (by number of rounds)
Industries commonly backed by corporate venture funds
Tech startups are overwhelmingly represented in our analysis of companies backed by corporate capital investment, with SaaS, mobile apps, and artificial intelligence comprising the top three.
Three of the largest funders — Google, Microsoft and Qualcomm — are all tech companies in their own right, whilst Novo Holdings invests heavily in biotech businesses and SoftBank Vision Fund II is one of the largest single backers of global tech startups.
But what are the top companies being backed by corporate venture capital? We’ve crunched the numbers and produced a full list of UK companies backed by corporate funds.
Methodology
To create our top 10 profiles, and 100 company list, we looked at companies that:
- Have received at least one round of equity fundraising involving a corporate investor
- The recipient company must be headquartered in the UK
We have then ranked these companies by the amount of equity raised.
All data for the ranking list was taken from the Beauhurst platform, and is accurate as of 30 June 2025.
Download the top 100 companies backed by corporate venture funds
Top 10 UK Companies Backed by Corporate Venture Capital
Graphcore
Location: Bristol
Industry: Chips and processors
Number of CVC rounds: Four
Total raised from CVC rounds: £244m
Graphcore develops specialised semiconductors known as Intelligence Processing Units (IPUs), designed to accelerate machine learning workloads across cloud and on-premise environments.
Spun out of XMOS in 2016, the company has raised £528m in equity funding, including four corporate venture-backed rounds totalling £244m. These rounds included investment from corporate VCs such as Dell Technologies Capital, M12 (Microsoft’s venture arm), Bosch Ventures, and Samsung Catalyst Fund.
Graphcore was acquired by SoftBank Group in July 2024. According to the company’s latest financial statements, also in 2024, it generated £3.13m in turnover.
Oxford Nanopore Technologies
Location: Oxford
Industry: Genomics
Number of CVC rounds: Two
Total raised from CVC rounds: £245m
Oxford Nanopore Technologies develops portable DNA and RNA sequencing devices, with capabilities that include detecting epigenetic modifications.
Founded as a spinout from the University of Oxford, the company operates within the genomics and precision medicine sectors, supplying research tools for clinical and analytical use. It has raised £976m in equity funding across 19 rounds, including two corporate venture capital (CVC) rounds totalling £245m.
The business listed on the London Stock Exchange in 2021 through a £350m IPO and has since acquired Northern Nanopore Instruments.
F2G
Location: Cheshire East
Industry: Pharmaceuticals
Number of CVC rounds: Seven
Total raised from CVC rounds: £251m
F2G develops antifungal treatments for life-threatening infections, focusing on patients with rare and resistant fungal diseases.
The company has secured over £280m in equity investment to date, including seven corporate venture-backed rounds totalling £251m.
Notable CVC investors include Novartis Venture Fund and Astellas Venture Management, both of which have participated across multiple rounds since 2006.
Synthesia
Location: Westminster
Industry: Artificial intelligence
Number of CVC rounds: Four
Total raised from CVC rounds: £254m
Synthesia creates AI-powered tools for generating synthetic video, with a focus on realistic avatar-based communication for enterprise use cases.
The company, which spun out of University College London in 2018, has since secured over £260m in equity investment, including four corporate venture-backed rounds totalling £254m.
Investors across these rounds include Adobe Ventures, Atlassian Ventures, GV (Google Ventures), and NVIDIA. As of its latest reported accounts to December 2023, Synthesia held £81.1m in cash and posted £25.7m in turnover.
Thought Machine
Location: Camden
Industry: Banking
Number of CVC rounds: Two
Total raised from CVC rounds: £278m
Thought Machine provides core banking infrastructure through its cloud-native platform, Vault Core, which enables banks to run scalable and configurable services across retail and commercial accounts.
The company has completed seven equity fundraisings, including two corporate venture-backed rounds raising a combined £278m. CVC investors include ING Ventures and SC Ventures.
Founded in 2017 and headquartered in Camden, Thought Machine reported turnover of £47.8m in the year ending December 2023.
Revolut
Location: Tower Hamlets
Industry: Banking
Number of CVC rounds: One
Total raised from CVC rounds: £383m
Revolut operates a global fintech platform offering retail banking, currency exchange, cryptocurrency trading, and payment services through a mobile-first app.
The company has raised over £1.2b in equity funding to date, including a £383m corporate venture-backed round completed in February 2020.
As of its latest accounts for the year ending December 2024, Revolut reported £3.09b in turnover and £1.09b in operating profit.
Isomorphic Labs
Location: Tower Hamlets
Industry: Biotechnology
Number of CVC rounds: One
Total raised from CVC rounds: £464m
Isomorphic Labs develops AI-driven drug discovery tools that aim to transform pharmaceutical design by modelling the behaviour of biological systems with high precision.
The company was spun out of Google in February 2021 and in March 2025, it completed a single corporate venture-backed round worth £464m, led by Alphabet, GV (Google Ventures), and Thrive Capital.
Monzo
Location: City of London
Industry: Banking
Number of CVC rounds: Six
Total raised from CVC rounds: £689m
Monzo operates a mobile-based challenger bank, offering current accounts, savings, lending, and financial management features to retail and business customers.
The company has secured £1.42b in equity investment to date, with six corporate venture-backed rounds raising a combined £689m. CVC investors include GV (Google Ventures), CapitalG (Google’s late-stage growth fund), Orange Ventures, and Kaiser Permanente Ventures.
In its latest accounts for the year ending March 2024, Monzo reported £880m in turnover and £192m in operating profit.
OneWeb
Location: Hammersmith and Fulham
Industry: Satellite Hardware
Number of CVC rounds: One
Total raised from CVC rounds: £941m
OneWeb developed low Earth orbit (LEO) satellite networks to deliver broadband connectivity in remote and underserved regions. The company raised £941m in a single corporate venture-backed round in March 2019, with participation from Qualcomm Ventures, SoftBank Group, and Grupo Salinas.
With a troubled history, OneWeb filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in March 2020 after failing to secure further funding. It was later acquired by a consortium that included the UK government and Bharti Global, emerging from bankruptcy in November 2020.
In September 2023, OneWeb merged with France-based Eutelsat to form the Eutelsat Group and its final accounts as an independent entity (to June 2024), reported £63.7m in turnover and an operating loss of £508m.
Wayve
Location: Islington
Industry: Autonomous vehicles
Number of CVC rounds: Two
Total raised from CVC rounds: £980m
Wayve builds machine learning software for autonomous driving, enabling vehicles to navigate complex environments without pre-mapped infrastructure.
Founded in 2017, the company has secured over £1b in equity investment, including two corporate venture-backed rounds totalling £980m. Its most recent fundraise in February 2024 raised £831m and featured investment from M12 (Microsoft’s venture arm), NVIDIA, and SoftBank Group. An earlier round in January 2022 included further backing from M12.
Explore the latest trends in corporate venture funds
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