Corporate Venture Capital as a Tool for Innovation Strategy: Strategic Objectives, Integration, and Barriers in Sweden’s Large Corporations

Abstract

This study examines how large Swedish corporations use Corporate Venture Capital (CVC) as a strategic tool to drive innovation. Through qualitative interviews with representatives from six leading companies in different industries, it is analysed how the companies balance strategic and financial goals, manage organisational integration and navigate cultural differences between established companies and start-ups. The results indicate that CVC units often operate with a certain degree of autonomy while remaining closely connected to the company's overall innovation strategy. The companies combine long-term innovation objectives with financial requirements, creating a dynamic balance between the exploitation and exploration of new ideas. Structural flexibility, the internal selection of key people, and cultural translator roles within the CVC units are highlighted as central mechanisms to enable this balance. By combining theories on open innovation, absorptive capacity and ambidexterity, the study contributes to a deeper understanding of how CVC can contribute to strategic renewal within large organisations. Practical implications include the need for flexible management forms, close collaboration between business units and CVC units, and the development of capabilities to manage cultural tensions in innovation collaboration.