Tanvi Lal, investor at Intuit Ventures, is one of our top 50 Rising Stars in corporate venturing for 2025.
Tanvi Lal was not specifically looking for a corporate venturing job when she joined Intuit Ventures in 2023, but soon discovered that her previous consulting experience at Deloitte, which involved implementing large-scale projects, navigating a large enterprise and building connectivity, made her well suited for a CVC role at the financial software company.
Working with the others on Intuit Ventures’ team is one of the highlights for Lal. Sitting on the corporate strategy and development team alongside M&A and strategy colleagues, Lal has the opportunity not only to get exposure to what others are doing, but also to collaborate.
Intuit launched its ventures unit in late 2021. The team invests in series A to C rounds, with non-lead cheques between $2m and $10m. While investments must be in an area relevant to Intuit and its products, business unit sponsorship is not required prior to investment.
“I cannot decide for the business unit which partner to go with. I hope it is the startup I chose – but it might not be”
Lal focuses on sourcing and analysing deals, as well as building connectivity between Intuit and the startup ecosystem. Finding startups in the right niche can be a challenge, but cites this focus as something that will drive the long-term success of the programme.
Companies that pique her interest include those centred around AI, especially those that streamline repetitive manual tasks for chief financial officers. Lal is also responsible for Intuit Ventures’ commerce investments.
Lal says corporate investors must define their own success metrics, ideally ones that are not outcome based, because so much is out of your control. “I cannot decide for the business unit which partner to go with. I hope it is the startup I chose – but it might not be,” she says. CVC investors need to hold themselves to other metrics to avoid feeling demotivated.
It is also important to build a varied skill set. “A lot of the job is partnerships-driven and your success as a CVC investor is determined by how well you can build connectivity between startups and the business,” she says.
See the full list of Rising Stars 2025 here.
