IBM recently announced the formation of a Venture Capital Advisory Council to work with IBM to encourage and aid deployment of open standards based solutions, with a focus on emerging markets. The Council “will meet throughout the year to review opportunities for startups in IBM’s partner programs”.

Initial members of the Venture Capital Advisory Council include venture capital partners at Accel Partners, Darby Overseas Investments, Ltd, Draper, Fisher and Jurvetson, Hummer Winblad Venture Partners, 3i, U.S. Venture Partners, and Walden International.

This new venture capital group should benefit all parties. IBM will benefit by bringing many technology companies they would not otherwise be involved with into its partner programs. It may also find companies or technologies that it wishes to purchase or invest in for later rounds of funding.

Council members “gain access to top executives, decision makers and experts from IBM’s hardware, software, services and research units”. This should provide a great resource to aid the VCs in understanding new technologies and forecasting future development trends.

The individual new companies may receive support through an IBM partnership program that they might not otherwise have received, and they will receive improved direction through the board members within these VCs, given their improved resources on the council.

Overall, this is a unique opportunity for many new technology startups and one that should help IBM continue to secure its place in the future.