Exploring the landscape of corporate venture capital: a systematic review of the entrepreneurial and finance literature

Abstract

The influence of corporate venture capital (CVC) investments within the venture capital industry, that is, equity stakes in high technology ventures, has stimulated the academic literature on this specific research area. Generally, CVC is strongly associated with the concept of corporate venturing and plays a vital role in the strategic renewal of established companies. Owing to the multifaceted nature of the CVC phenomenon, the existing literature is rather fragmented. Therefore, the purpose of this article is twofold: first, bibliographic coupling is introduced to the field of CVC to reveal the underlying structure of the current research front. Second, a content-related review is conducted to shed light on nascent research streams and shortcomings within the CVC literature that indicate promising avenues for future research. The systematic review of a comprehensive set of 65 articles reveals that the prevailing CVC literature is mainly driven by two dominant logics, management and finance, that tend to separate themselves from one another. Moreover, nascent research streams are identified that will broaden and enrich the academic discussion.