The State of Corporate Venture Capital 2025

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CVCs are evolving their strategies in 2025. The pace of investment is more deliberate, as CVCs pursue fewer, more targeted deals. AI investment continues to grow as a pillar of corporate innovation strategy. Efficiency and liquidity challenges are also prompting funds to seek greater independence from their corporate parents.

Corporate prioritization and bureaucratic decision-making are also common roadblocks.

That’s up 7 percentage points from last year.

Among strategic funds, the ratio is 1 in 5.

The data

The 2025 State of CVC report, co-authored by Silicon Valley Bank and Counterpart Ventures, draws from a survey of prominent active global corporate venture capital funds to explore how they’re adapting their strategies, prioritizing technologies like AI and navigating corporate dependencies.

The top three problems facing funds are speed and efficiency, corporate prioritization and bureaucratic decision-making.

Each creates internal friction that slows execution in an ecosystem that rewards speed.

Notes: Respondents could choose multiple options. Source: CVC survey and SVB analysis.

The use of secondaries has grown among CVCs, jumping from 15% in 2024 to 22% in 2025.

Under pressure to support follow-ons in a constrained funding environment, funds are embracing new liquidity tools.

Percentage of CVCs Secondary Market chart

Source: CVC survey and SVB analysis.

Financial CVCs are more likely than their strategic counterparts to be off balance sheet and far more likely to have a multi-LP structure.

Off balance sheet models offer greater compensation and independence. In an era of less scrutiny on corporate spending, more funds are considering adopting them.

Source: CVC survey and SVB analysis. Note: Other category not shown that represents less than 1% of total responses. For this reason and as a result of rounding, totals may not equal 100%.

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More about the authors

Mark Gallagher

Head of the Investor Coverage and Business Development

Patrick Eggen

Mikey Kalis

Emma Eschweiler

Director

Abbie Wolf

Marketing & Platform Analyst, Counterpart Ventures 

Anjalika Komatireddy

Eli Oftedal

Principal Researcher, Market Insights

Jake Ledbetter, CFA

Senior Researcher, Market Insights

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The State of CVC 2025

Key takeaways

51%

Of CVCs cite speed and efficiency as persistent challenges

22%

Of CVCs have used the secondary market to generate liquidity

2 in 3

Financial CVCs are off balance sheet

The data

CVCs’ greatest challenge is inefficiency

Secondaries are entering the playbook