Jon Schalliol, finance and operations lead at HG Ventures, is one of our top 50 Emerging Leaders in corporate venturing for 2025.
Jon Schalliol was drawn out of a career in Silicon Valley, where he was a founder of and worked for big tech companies, by his interest in sustainable innovation in the industrial sector.
Now, he is finance and operations lead at HG Ventures, the CVC unit of The Heritage Group. The group is a family-owned holding company with businesses across sectors including construction, environmental services, materials, recycling and industrial chemicals. HG Ventures targets innovative hardtech and digital startups in those areas.
Schalliol says the diversity of expertise within the group allows HG Ventures to drive value to its portfolio companies.
“We can call upon a scientific expert in an area that fits precisely the need one of our portfolio companies has, or can get that customer feedback, or introductions to the right high-level people,” he says. As a prior founder, he sees the substantial impact corporate validation can bring to a startup.
“I work on every deal we do, on the legal side, making sure everything is proper, that we have got our cap tables in order and everything is going to flow the way we think it should”
His role involves managing finance across the portfolio of 35 companies, optimising the way the CVC operates and ensuring best practices are followed when deals are done. “I work on every deal we do, on the legal side, making sure everything is proper, that we have got our cap tables in order and everything is going to flow the way we think it should.”
Schalliol champions the use of AI, investing recently in Pinpoint Analytics. “I see [AI] as a multiplier across the industries we are in,” he says, and expects to see AI play an increasing role in improving the performance of future investments.
Last year, he hosted GCV’s Finance and Operations Forum, an initiative he conceived that brought together CFOs, COOs, counsel and other leaders, to share best practices for operating CVCs.
He advises corporate venturers to do their best by their portfolio companies. “Watch the fiduciary relationships,” he says, and always protect their value.
See the full list of Emerging Leaders 2025 here.
