Mirella Lisboa, digital solutions and open innovation manager - head AgroStart LatAm at BASF, is one of our top 50 Rising Stars in corporate venturing for 2025.
Mirella Lisboa believes her background in chemical engineering taught her how to approach complex problems with technical expertise. However, her desire to learn new things made her realise her passion extended beyond engineering and into the world of innovation and entrepreneurship.
“My career in innovation took off in 2018, when I co-founded BASF’s innovation hub Onono. It allowed me to bridge the gap between large organisations and agile leaders – the startups solving real-world challenges collaboratively,” she says.
Lisboa left BASF in 2021 to join Cubo Itaú, the Brazilian innovation hub, where she improved her understanding of corporate startup partnerships. In 2023, she returned to BASF to lead the AgroStart team.
“The role of venture building is really important to help startups achieve better results in a shorter time”
“AgroStart is a venture building ecosystem. We focus on preparing and developing agribusiness startups. We help them validate their solutions, scale their operations and attract investment. We do not invest directly in startups – we help them scale their business to achieve new corporate investments.”
Grão Direto is one such example. The startup was accelerated by AgroStart and over a three-year period “we helped it define the best business model to test the technology in the real world,” says Lisboa.
At the end of this period, Grão Direto received a venture investment from the CVC unit of BASF. “It was a direct result of our work. That is why I believe the role of venture building is really important to help startups achieve better results in a shorter time.”
Lisboa says corporate investors need to “be the bridge between two worlds. Corporate venturing requires a unique skill set to connect people and goals, especially to face this challenge of connecting the agility of startups with a more robust directory of a large corporation. It is essential to translate startup innovation into corporate language.”
See the full list of Rising Stars 2025 here.
