Benjamin Haskell, investment director at Lam Capital, is one of our top 50 Rising Stars in corporate venturing for 2025.
Lam Capital’s Benjamin Haskell describes himself as “an engineer at heart”, who likes to build things, “create partnerships and work with other people”.
He spent most of his career as an entrepreneur – co-founding Inlustra Technologies, a startup commercialising bulk gallium nitride substrates grown by hydride vapour phase epitaxy. He then moved to Ostendo Technologies, a micro-LED display startup, which ultimately brought him to US semiconductor equipment maker Lam Research, which was hiring for someone with startup experience, who could also help with technology partnerships.
“It was a great fit. When I joined Lam, I was looking to be on the other side of that funding equation and find ways to partner better,” says Haskell. “I have taken that experience from my first five years at Lam Research into the venture arm (Lam Capital), where I have been for the past two years, to create those win-win opportunities for the startups and Lam, which will ultimately lead to technology being commercialised faster.”
“We really want to be an active contributor to the company’s success, leveraging our technical expertise and experience with high-volume manufacturing”
Lam Capital is the corporate VC arm of Lam Research and invests in semiconductor startups, digital manufacturing and related industries. The unit has made 30 investments over the past seven years. It invests in companies in the seed through to series B stages.
“We like to help companies refine their technology and figure out a path towards high volume manufacturing. That is an important point, that we are not looking for investments where our money is the only value that we can bring to these companies. We really want to be an active contributor to the company’s success, leveraging our technical expertise and experience with high-volume manufacturing,” says Haskell.
His advice to those looking to enter the corporate venturing sector is simple. “Make a point of understanding your parent company’s technology and needs, and meeting experts who can advise you effectively.”
See the full list of the 2025 GCV Rising Stars here.
