Chris Picariello, president at Johnson & Johnson Innovation, is one of the 100 leading corporate venturing professionals in our 2025 Powerlist.

Formed in 1973, as the venture investment arm of Johnson & Johnson (J&J), JJDC is one of the world’s oldest corporate venture capital units, having reached the 50-year mark in 2023.

Between 2015 and 2024, JJDC invested more than $3.4bn on behalf of J&J. The unit continues to focus on strategic areas of medical technology and pharmaceuticals. It has more than 100 active portfolio companies across the globe and, in 2024, made more than 50 initial and follow on investments and had nine venture exits.

Chris Picariello took the role of JJDC president in 2019, when he joined the team after several successful leadership roles in J&J, including acting as the chief business officer and CFO for J&J’s Innovative Medicine R&D unit. Keen to maintain the organisation’s legacy of success, Picariello fostered a mix of talent on the team, resourcing critical areas and supplementing for future succession planning.

Embedded in hotspots of science and technology across the globe, JJDC taps into the scale and expertise of J&J as a trusted conduit between external innovators and its businesses. Picariello describes himself as a “servant leader.” He aims to remove barriers and ensure his team can operate and execute efficiently, as well as challenging them to deliver on their own and the corporation’s objectives.

“We are globally connected and we are going to find transformational innovation wherever it exists in the world, with the passion of getting that to patients.”

As a strategic CVC, JJDC is looking to “identify opportunities to bring inside its pipeline, but at the same time, be fiscally responsible with investments, ensuring a good return on capital.”

In 2024, J&J MedTech acquired V-Wave, a company initially backed by JJDC in 2016. It also acquired the Velys™ Spine Robot from another portfolio company, eCential Robotics, which offers surgical robotic technology. The Innovative Medicine pipeline also expanded, with the acquisition of JJDC portfolio company, Arkuda Therapeutics. JJDC completed a private investment in public equity in Kaken Pharmaceutical in early 2025, which was its first in Asia Pacific and first investment in a Japanese company in 20+ years.

JJDC’s continued focus is on bold investing. “We are globally connected and we are going to find transformational innovation wherever it exists in the world, with the passion of getting that to patients.”


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.

See the full 2025 Powerlist here.