What are strategic investors?
Strategic investors are corporate investors — established companies investing through corporate venture capital (CVC) arms or directly — that bring industry expertise, customer relationships, distribution channels or technical partnerships in addition to capital. Examples include Google Ventures, Intel Capital, Salesforce Ventures and Türkiye Türk Telekom Ventures.
Strategic investors offer significant value-add but raise concerns about information sharing with the parent, conflict with future M&A buyers, and the parent’s strategic priorities overriding portfolio company interests. Careful side-letter terms address these risks.