Myriad Venture Partners launches with $100M fund backed by Xerox

Myriad Venture Partners, a new early-stage venture capital firm focused on artificial intelligence (AI), clean tech, and B2B software, announced its launch today with $100 million in initial funding. The anchor investor is Xerox Corporation, which is contributing its experience with venture investing to help Myriad succeed.  

“This is really not a one-off transaction for us. This is a journey we’ve been on for a number of years,” said Xerox’s chief transformation and administrative officer, Louie Pastor, in an interview with VentureBeat. Xerox started its own venture capital arm Xerox Ventures three years ago and has been honing its venture investing skills since then.

Myriad is led by Chris Fisher, Tim Chiang, and Dean Mai, all formerly of Xerox Ventures. Fisher was previously senior vice president and chief strategy officer at Xerox. “When you think about corporations and B2B, whether it’s sales or operating a corporation, they’re always faced with this concept of an innovator’s dilemma. Essentially, mature businesses either need to innovate, or they get disrupted by innovative startups,” said Fisher.

Strategic investment to tap cutting-edge innovation

Myriad aims to help connect mature corporations with the startups that can transform their businesses. The firm’s focus areas — AI, clean tech, and B2B software — align with the technology spending priorities Fisher sees in large enterprises.

The new $100 million fund already has 14 companies in its portfolio including Seurat Technologies, LinkSquares, Anvilogic, and Mojave. Myriad is targeting $200 million for its first fund.

Xerox views its anchor investment in Myriad as strategic, not just financial. “We’re looking to create a sort of self-reinforcing mechanism of commercial and strategic benefits, in addition to investment returns,” Pastor explained. 

Xerox will participate in Myriad’s Advisory Council along with HCLTech and other large corporations. The council will get early looks at Myriad’s deal pipeline and enable collaborations between Myriad’s portfolio companies and strategic partners.

For Xerox, the advisory council is a valuable source of insights into emerging technologies and startups. “When I think about what we need to do internally, to make it easier to do business within and with Xerox, leveraging the latest technologies, I can give you an example not to name a specific company, but the idea that we need to ensure we get to a single CRM instance globally with our sales force,” said Pastor.

Hybrid model marries startup ideas with corporate scale

The Myriad model offers a new way for legacy brands to tap innovation and maintain a competitive edge. “It’s innovation within our business model, as much as it’s innovation within our technology,” Pastor noted.

With its legacy of workplace technology innovations, Xerox is leaning into new approaches like venture investing to develop the next generation of business solutions. Supporting ventures in AI and other cutting-edge areas through Myriad complements Xerox’s strengths.

“We want to invest in them so we get returns from them, but also so we have even more incentive to pull them through our solutions, to push their adoption, to raise our profile with our clients,” said Pastor.

Myriad offers a path to drive both financial returns and strategic impact for Xerox. The new firm’s independent structure can attract top talent and funding, while the close ties to Xerox ensure continued collaboration. 

The early success of companies like Seurat Technologies, which has won investments from Nvidia and Honda, underscores the potential. Myriad’s broad industry network and Xerox’s client relationships offer startups unique advantages in scaling up.

Opening new doors and possibilities

Both Xerox and Myriad see massive potential in the partnership. “We’re really excited about it. We think it’s a great opportunity and time to invest,” said Fisher. 

“I’m so excited for that…the credibility that builds both for Myriad and for Xerox. And how that enhances deal flow moving forward, raising additional capital, pulling all those solutions through for our customers, using them internally — I mean, when I think about the ways in which Myriad can help our reinvention of what we’re doing at Xerox internally, to make it easier to do business with us, within Xerox, with Xerox, and then ultimately to grow our share of wallet with clients. I mean.. it makes me so excited because I see so much opportunity in each of those categories,” said Pastor.

The launch of Myriad Venture Partners backed by Xerox marks a new phase in corporate venture investing. By blending startup innovation with the scale and reach of established brands, firms like Myriad can reshape industries. For legacy companies, the agility to adapt business models alongside technology is key to remaining competitive. With industry veterans at the helm and patient capital from long-term investors like Xerox, Myriad is positioned to foster the next generation of enterprise solutions.