Sectors
The CVC Unplugged podcast is a weekly show that brings you fascinating and wide-ranging conversations with leading corporate venture capital investors, subject matter experts, startup founders, journalists and other market participants to keep you informed of the most important trends affecting early-stage investing. Hosted by Global Corporate Venturing’s Fernando Moncada Rivera, guests dive into strategy, market movements and drivers, best practices, macro trends and much more. New episodes are available every Thursday on your favourite audio platforms, including Spotify, Apple Podcasts, Soundcloud, or wherever else you get your podcasts.
May 15, 2025
In recent months we’ve seen quite a few corporate VC units either shut down, or get spun off, as their corporate parents grapple with how to deal with a tough macroeconomic environment. That’s not always the case though – we’re also seeing a number of other CVCs get launched, and some existing CVCs launch big new funds.
My guest today is in the latter category – I speak to Ingo Ramesohl, managing director at Robert Bosch Venture Capital, the CVC arm of German engineering and technology company Bosch, which is known as Bosch Ventures for short.
We talk about the brand new €250m sixth fund that the unit just launched, and their plans for it, as well as more broadly, why it is so important for companies to push ahead with innovation even when the going gets tough – and why those that stay the course can benefit from a competitive advantage in the market.
We also talk a lot about Open Bosch, which is Bosch Venture’s in-house venture clienting arm – we touch on how they select companies and allocate resources, why its important to be one of a startup’s early customers in order to be part of the innovation, and what areas the unit is looking at – such as data centres and healthcare – to help position it’s parent company for the massive industrial disruptions on the horizon.
The post Economic ruts are a good time to double down appeared first on CVC Unplugged.
May 08, 2025
Space has historically been the domain of governments – as that has changed and it’s becoming a more private sector-based commercial endeavour, something else has been changing too, and that is that whereas before space was a matter of launching things up where they will do something for a while, then they come back down. What’s emerging now is the prospect of an entire economy in space, for space – where things don’t always need to come back down to earth for maintenance, or refuelling, for example, and can continue to operate outside earth.
My guest today is Timur Davis, director at Munich Re Ventures, where much of his focus is trained beyond the atmosphere, in startups who want to operate in orbit.
We talk about how the unit’s thesis of investing in the picks and shovels of space – the enabling technologies that allow for the space economy to operate effectively – things like traffic management and servicing in orbit. We also talk about the changing business models – how the pendulum has swung back to startups searching for government-based revenues for their stability – as well why mid-stage space startups have trouble getting funded, the development of in-space regulations and norms, how much of space is wide open in terms of the competitive landscape, and much more.
The post Investing in the in-space economy appeared first on CVC Unplugged.
May 01, 2025
Demand on the power grid is not getting any lower, in fact it’s growing faster than ever, and putting real pressure on the existing infrastructure. As more energy-hungry customers like data centres are coming online, better solutions need to be found to get more capacity through the system.
My guest today is Pradeep Tagare, head of investment at National Grid Partners, the US-based VC arm of National Grid, which is a grid operator active in the UK and the US.
We talk about the challenges facing grid operators at a time when the growth in demand for power is unprecedented, not least because of the phenomenal growth in data centres in the age of AI. We touch on how people are thinking about providing to these large demand customers like data centres, and what solutions exist to increase grid capacity even without a wholescale upgrade of the grid infrastructure itself.
We also talk about the progress being made in the area of distributed energy resources, and how the challenge of interoperability of those diverse energy sources is largely solved, and how AI can be used from anything from finding out where best to place data centres, to figuring out how to best reduce the problem of vegetation overgrowth which can bring networks down, and more.
But first, I speak to Kim Moore about the growth of the space startup ecosystem in Europe.
The post Dealing with an unprecedented demand for power appeared first on CVC Unplugged.
April 24, 2025
The world is becoming, if not a more dangerous place, then perhaps a testier one. Over the past decade or so, we’ve seen an intensifying staccato of cyber attacks against critical infrastructure and other large facilities, which can, of course, bring with it huge financial and operational problems.
It is increasingly not just a problem for individual companies, but for nations as a whole. Private companies may own energy assets, for example, but an attack that disrupts that energy supply is a national security issue.
What we have seen in response to this is a strengthened focus on cybersecurity that focuses on operational technology – the physical realm – not just the digital IT side of the ledger.
More and more investors are looking to back startups that protect not just data and digital systems, but physical systems that people depend on for their daily lives.
Joining me today is Stephen Hurford, who sits in the host seat to ask me about it for a change.
The post Protecting critical infrastructure is big business appeared first on CVC Unplugged.
April 17, 2025
My guest today is Talia Abramowitz, managing partner of Deloitte Ventures, a unit which has made the vast majority of its direct investments in Canadian startups and is well-placed to speak to the feelings within ecosystem. We talk about how startups and investors are thinking of navigating the current uncertainty, and how far along Canada has come in terms of its CVC activity. The unit has also just recently passed its three-year anniversary since founding, so we talk about the challenges of standing up a new CVC, as well as the evolving business of AI, and much more.
The post Canada’s startups navigate the new normal appeared first on CVC Unplugged.
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