The Case for Venture: From Philosophy to Platform
Explore how embracing both the philosophy and the platform can create a stronger, more collaborative innovation ecosystem.
Connected ecosystems do create outperformance, and new collaboration platforms are making it easier than ever to unlock this value.
Do networks outperform silos? In venture investing and corporate innovation, evidence increasingly says yes. A growing body of data shows that collaboration across a network – whether among co-investors or across business units – yields measurably better outcomes than isolated efforts. This “collaboration premium” can be seen in higher investment returns, faster startup exits, and accelerated innovation cycles. By contrast, siloed teams miss out on shared knowledge and opportunities, leaving value on the table. The lesson is clear: connected ecosystems do create outperformance, and new collaboration platforms are making it easier than ever to unlock this value.
When investors team up and share deals, the results speak for themselves. Research in venture capital has quantified the edge enjoyed by well-connected funds. In one large-sample study, VC firms with more syndicate partners (i.e. a more central network position) significantly outperformed less-connected peers. A one-standard-deviation increase in a VC firm’s network “centrality” translated to about a 2.5 percentage point higher successful exit rate for its portfolio (from a 34.2% base rate). In turn, this boost in exits was estimated to raise the fund’s IRR by roughly 2.5 percentage points (on a ~15% average IRR)[1]. In short, funds that actively co-invest and build syndicate networks see higher returns and more exits than those going solo.
Faster Exits and Higher IRRs: Being central in a co-investment network doesn’t just correlate with more exits – it helps cause them. Well-networked VCs are able to expedite their portfolio companies’ growth and exit opportunities through superior connections and resources. Empirical analysis shows a strong positive effect of network centrality on the probability a startup advances to the next funding round or achieves a successful exit[2]. All else equal, more exits lead to higher IRRs, so it’s no surprise that networked funds top the charts. The advantage isn’t trivial: a highly networked fund can substantially outperform a comparable isolated fund on financial returns[1].
Why Collaboration Pays: Interestingly, the benefit of being in a network isn’t only about getting more deals. Well-connected investors provide deeper value-add to the companies they back. They can tap a wider pool of expertise, contacts, and follow-on funding to help startups succeed[3][4]. In other words, networks outperform silos not just due to picking better deals, but by amplifying each other’s strengths. A lead investor who can bring in co-investors with industry knowledge, customer introductions, or technical talent is delivering far more support than any single firm could alone. As one study concluded, well-networked VCs perform better largely because they “provide better value-added services to their portfolio companies,” beyond just capital[4]. The network becomes an accelerator for growth and problem-solving, leading to faster scale-up and exits.
These findings underscore a core principle: a network of collaborators creates more value than the sum of isolated players. In fact, corporate strategy research has started to echo this, noting that a partner ecosystem – a deliberate network of organizations working in harmony – can “collaborate for mutual benefit and create more value than the individual pieces alone”[5]. This is the collaboration premium in action, and it’s not limited to venture firms. Corporations are learning that lesson as well.
For large companies, silos don’t just exist between firms – they exist within the organization. Corporate venture capital (CVC) arms invest in startups partly to inject new innovation into their parent company’s businesses. But realizing that strategic value requires breaking down internal silos: the startup’s solution needs to link up with multiple business units (BUs) and projects to make a meaningful impact. Many CVCs find that if their portfolio startups run pilots only in one corner of the company, they miss the wider opportunity. For example, a startup providing an AI solution could benefit several divisions of a conglomerate – if those divisions coordinate and share the pilot results. The data shows that when such cross-business-unit collaboration happens, the outcomes improve. The challenge is that most corporates lack the tools or structures to coordinate startup engagements across silos.
Consider that in a recent global survey, only about 38% of corporate venture units have a dedicated team focused on helping portfolio startups make business connections within the parent company[6]. In other words, fewer than half of CVC programs have an internal “liaison” function to bridge the gaps between startups and the many BUs that could use their technology. The majority of corporates still rely on ad-hoc efforts – individual project champions or chance encounters – to integrate startup pilots, which often isn’t enough. Without a deliberate cross-silo collaboration mechanism, even promising startup pilots can languish.
Indeed, corporate venture leaders warn that even a wildly successful pilot project can fail to scale up if other business units are not on board. As Global Corporate Venturing notes, “Even if a pilot project is wildly successful, it can be challenging to turn it into an ongoing business proposition” without internal champions driving it forward[7]. Business units tend to focus on their own immediate needs and may resist adopting a new solution unless they have incentive and context to do so. That’s why experts recommend finding internal champions and aligning incentives to push cross-unit collaboration[8]. But identifying the right champions in each silo – and equipping them to work together – is hard without an overarching system.
The absence of coordination tools not only slows down innovation but also creates missed financial value. Corporate silos mean redundant efforts and slower partnerships, whereas a connected internal network can unlock synergies quickly. For instance, one successful program, the HS2 Accelerator in the UK, shows what’s possible when silos are bridged. The accelerator brought together a large infrastructure project (High Speed Rail 2) with dozens of startups and multiple stakeholders. The result: 25 startups supported, 21 pilot projects deployed across the business, over £130 million in funding raised, and an estimated £200 million in cost savings in one year[9][10]. Those kinds of outcomes only happen when multiple parts of an ecosystem collaborate toward a shared goal. In most corporate environments, replicating such success will require better coordination methods – precisely what emerging collaboration platforms aim to provide.
If networks consistently outperform silos, the next question becomes how to network more effectively. Historically, building an ecosystem of partners or coordinating across divisions took extensive legwork, face-to-face meetings, and often pure luck. Today, however, digital platforms are dramatically compressing the time and effort needed to form partnerships. By facilitating multi-actor collaboration in real time, these platforms remove friction and speed up the “matchmaking” process for businesses.
Let’s break down a few key capabilities that a modern collaboration platform (such as the Nexus ecosystem tool) can offer to deliver this acceleration:
Real-Time Communication: Instead of siloed email threads or bureaucracy, stakeholders from different organizations (or different BUs internally) can connect instantly via chat and messaging. This mirrors the role of network brokers or liaisons who bridge groups – in software form. For example: a venture fund can spin up a group chat with a corporate partner and a startup founder to explore a co-investment or pilot opportunity immediately, rather than weeks of formal exchanges. Such real-time liaison breaks down barriers that traditionally slowed cross-group collaboration[11]. Questions get answered in minutes, not weeks, collapsing the cycle time of partnership discussions.
Curated Ecosystem Events: The right platform extends beyond text communication to curate introductions and events that bring multiple players together. Virtual demo days, industry-specific forums, or networking sessions enable serendipitous encounters that would rarely happen in siloed operations. By convening diverse actors – startups, investors, business unit leaders – in the same (physical or virtual) room, platforms create structured serendipity. These events significantly shorten the time to find a fitting partner. A corporate innovation scout might meet three relevant startups in one virtual event, versus spending months to source them individually. Over time, such frequent interactions build trust and a shared knowledge base, making subsequent negotiations faster.
Portfolio Maps & Network Intelligence: One of the most powerful accelerators is making invisible connections visible. Collaboration platforms like Nexus provide interactive portfolio maps or network graphs, showing who is connected to whom, which startups align with which industry themes, and where collaboration opportunities lie. This kind of relationship intelligence is transformational[12]. Instead of each actor fumbling in the dark for the right partner, the platform illuminates the whole ecosystem. For instance, a business unit head can log in and immediately see if any startups in the corporate venture portfolio address her current problem area – and see which other units or investors are already involved. By identifying mutual touchpoints early (e.g. two business units interested in the same startup’s pilot), a network map avoids duplication and encourages joint efforts. Essentially, the platform acts as an auto-coordinator, suggesting “you two should talk” based on data. According to network science experts, using such analysis to find brokers and bridges in the network is vital for fostering strategic collaboration across silos[12].
By combining these features – instantaneous communication, orchestrated encounters, and intelligent mapping – ecosystem platforms can shrink the partnership formation process from years to months, or months to weeks. The typical delays (missed emails, unknown overlaps, internal turf wars) get minimized. In effect, the platform serves as a neutral third-party facilitator that aligns multiple stakeholders quickly around opportunities of mutual value. Everyone in the network gains, because valuable deals and ideas surface faster than they would in a disconnected environment.
All the trends above point to a clear conclusion: connected ecosystems have a decisive edge over isolated silos. Investors who syndicate and share resources enjoy better returns and more frequent exits. Corporates that integrate startups across divisions capture more innovation and avoid pilot purgatory. And broadly, organizations that embrace partnerships – leveraging external skills and ideas – out-innovate those that try to do everything alone. Little wonder that in a recent executive survey, 75% of business leaders said partnerships fuel growth, innovation, and agility, even though many haven’t fully organized their partner ecosystems yet[13]. There is vast unlocked potential in moving from ad-hoc collaboration to intentional, systematized collaboration.
Realizing that potential is the mission behind Nexus’s approach. POV: Nexus is about enabling ecosystem-level productivity – giving every participant in the network the tools to be more effective together than they could apart. By providing a platform for multi-actor collaboration, Nexus aims to deliver the collaboration premium to corporations, startups, and investors alike. The chat, events, and portfolio mapping features are not just bells and whistles; they are designed to cultivate the liaisons, transparency, and alignment that make an ecosystem hum. In practical terms, that means compressing the time to partnership, reducing the friction of coordination, and uncovering synergy that would otherwise be missed.
In the era of complex, interdisciplinary challenges, no single organization has all the answers. The winners will be those who tap into the power of the network – who build coalitions, share insights, and co-create solutions across traditional boundaries. The data confirms it: networks outperform silos in measurable ways, from higher IRRs to faster innovation cycles[1][14]. Embracing this reality, and equipping teams with the right collaboration platform, turns connectivity into a competitive advantage. This is the collaboration premium: the outsized returns and impact that only a well-connected ecosystem can achieve. Nexus’s vision is to make that premium accessible to any organization ready to break out of silos and join the networked economy. By doing so, we unlock not just individual partnerships, but an entire ecosystem of productivity and growth.
In summary, the evidence is in favor of networks over silos. Now it’s about acting on that insight – fostering the partnerships and using the tools that can turn a collection of siloed efforts into a high-performance, connected community. Those who do will reap the rewards of outperformance, together. [1][6]
https://www.cis.upenn.edu/~mkearns/teaching/NetworkedLife/VC_networks.pdf
[5] [13] Accelerate growth and innovation with partner ecosystems
https://kpmg.com/us/en/articles/2025/architecting-partner-ecosystems.html
[6] [7] [8] [9] [10] [14] How to build a business development team at your CVC unit -
https://globalventuring.com/corporate/how-to-build-a-business-development-team-at-your-cvc-unit/
[11] [12] Infographic: The Five Types of Network Brokers - Visible Network Labs
https://visiblenetworklabs.com/2025/07/17/infographic-the-five-types-of-network-brokers/
