Jacqueline LeSage, founder and managing general partner of Munich Re Ventures, is one of the 100 leading corporate venturing professionals in our 2025 Powerlist.

When a friend of Jacqueline LeSage first floated the idea of working on strategy for an insurance company, she initially dismissed the idea. But the role in a new area of VC and innovation piqued her curiosity, and she went on not only to spend half a decade working on this at insurance company The Hartford, but later moved on to do it on an even larger scale at Munich Re.

“I knew that if I ever did CVC again, I would want to do it in reinsurance, and that is exactly what happened when Munich Re began thinking about starting a CVC. The rest is history,” she says.

She founded Munich Re Ventures in 2014, and over the past decade has built a team and portfolio that currently comprises nearly 50 companies and has exited more than a dozen others.

“Run the firm as professionally as possible, stay close to the businesses so it is excited to work with you.”

The culture of her team is a source of pride, where everyone, regardless of level, is expected to form and share their opinions. This fosters a culture that guards against groupthink and unchecked egos. Its apprenticeship model, in which junior team members are paired with senior team members, ensures a deep bench of trained investment professionals.

One does not have to dig too far into the past to find the strength of the value the unit can bring to its parent company. Earlier this year, Munich Re announced the $2.6bn acquisition of Next Insurance, whose series A round was led by Munich Re Ventures in 2017.

Looking ahead, LeSage is excited to see the impact generative AI will have on insurance, as well as the intersection between the now-resurging crypto space with insurance, climate resilience and infrastructure.

“Run the firm as professionally as possible, stay close to the businesses so it is excited to work with you, and be patient and adaptable as your corporate LP evolves what it wants from CVC over time,” she advises.


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.