SA国际传媒

The oil and gas industry has historically been slow to adopt new technologies, but one major player has sought to break from that tradition.

Yesterday, Houston-based announced a new $90 million fund 鈥� its seventh 鈥� to focus on innovation within the energy industry.

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This fund promises to invest in 鈥渉igh-tech, high growth startups and breakthrough technologies鈥� that will help Chevron鈥檚 oil and gas business, and create growth opportunities in the future, according to its

It鈥檚 important to note that venture investing is not a new endeavor for Chevron, which formed its fund in 1999. It鈥檚 made over 90 investments over the past 20 years, per its , In 2018, it launched a to target the .

Its most recent investment closed last week, when it participated in a $68 million funding round for Canada-based clean energy company . It鈥檚 also seen at least over time, according to its SA国际传媒 profile.

Chevron appears unafraid of the pushback that some corporations get for being self-serving when it comes to investments. It plans to invest in early-to mid-stage companies, as well as partnership funds.

We鈥檙e seeing more corporations jump into startup investment, which is part of the reason that , a firm which advises corporations like on how to manage their venture funds, came to be.

, a marketing manager at , said that with this uptick, corporations need to take a moment to decide whether they are designing a venture capital fund in the most 鈥渃onducive鈥� way.

The challenge is that some corporations pull people from random departments like merger and acquisitions or finance and task them with designing a fund, Lee said to SA国际传媒 News.

As for why we鈥檙e seeing more companies engaging with startups? Lee said as big industries realize they are starting to get disrupted by startups, it鈥檚 the new 鈥渨in-win鈥� situation.

The result: the startup gains the capital and leadership support they need, she said, while the corporation finds a way to help the younger venture become a viable, long-lasting business.

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