Mike Smeed, managing director of InMotion Ventures, is one of the 100 leading corporate venturing professionals in our 2025 Powerlist.
When Mike Smeed joined automotive manufacturer JLR’s InMotion Ventures in 2022, the investment unit was reinventing itself.
It had already invested across a range of general mobility technologies – autonomous, connected, electrification and shared ownership models – and its portfolio contains everything from battery materials recyclers to leather substitute manufacturers. The next step was to bring that portfolio closer to JLR itself.
“When we looked at the reset, or Fund 2, as we now refer to it, it was really about getting closer to the strategic transformation of the company,” says Smeed. “That is why, when we look at our climate, industrial and enterprise verticals, they are very much about JLR’s strategic transformation being much more than purely a product strategy.
“Up to 90% of our active portfolio is now engaged with JLR in some way,” he says. “I had an ambition to double that from 25% to 50%, and the fact we have got to 90% shows that the investments we made over that period, and continue to make, will tangibly transform our company going forward.”
“Normally, when I am two years into a job, I have pretty much cracked it and I am ready for the next job. With this one, I have not even got started yet”
The past year has seen InMotion making steps to get more involved in Western Europe, where new hire Edouard Chavassieu has been focusing. Smeed says deal flow has been strong and, as venture capital is potentially going through a tougher period, UK and European CVCs could have an opportunity to catch up with their American peers.
“This is my 27th year of professional life. Normally, when I am two years into a job, I have pretty much cracked it and I am ready for the next job. With this one, I have not even got started yet,” says Smeed.
He adds that every time he feels he has made significant progress, he encounters a CVC or VC fund that is doing something completely new and different.
“I do not think I have ever been as busy,” he says. “We are now really looking to deliver on behalf of our portfolio companies and trying to build that reputation within the external environment.”
The Global Corporate Venturing Powerlist represents the 100 individuals spearheading the future of the corporate venturing industry.
These individuals excel in terms of their venturing approach and structure, number and quality of portfolio companies and in their contributions to the corporate venturing profession.