Corporate venture capital (CVC) funds are on the rise. Consider
the growing number of big companies creating funds to find
promising startups: Google Ventures, Intel Capital, Qualcomm
Ventures, Novartis Venture Funds, Samsung Ventures, AOL
Ventures, Dell Ventures, Dow Venture Capital, Microsoft
Ventures, and Citi Ventures. And that's just a short list.
Going with a CVC fund, especially if your startup is in a
similar category to the company behind the fund, offers benefits
that go beyond money--it's a strategic move that can promote
your long-term growth and innovation.   To dig deeper into the
more-than-monetary benefits of CVC funds, I recently spoke with
Harshul Sanghi, managing partner of AmEx Ventures. AmEx Ventures
has invested in more than 10 startups, including mobile rewards
company Kiip, personal search company Ness Computing, and
personal financial advisory platform LearnVest.  Here are some
points to consider when thinking of CVC as a funding option:
The money and the interest is there.  Sanghi