Top 50 Rising Stars 2022 (in alphabetical order by CVC unit): Alexander Litvinov, senior manager, and Ivana Molchanova, senior associate, Severstal Ventures
Severstal Ventures, the corporate venture capital (CVC) unit of Russia-based steel and steel-related mining company Severstal, was founded in 2018 and invests in new productions technologies and advanced materials.
Alexander Litvinov, senior manager at Severstal Ventures, joined the unit in August 2019 and focuses primarily on its wood business Sveza, with an emphasis on cellulose and biorefinery.
On what attracted him to CVC, Litvinov said: “I see lots of old ideas coming back due to new conditions, often related to either sustainability or digitalisation. And surely it is extremely interesting to touch disruptive ideas rather than something established and old-fashioned.”
Ivana Molchanova on the other hand joined Severstal Ventures from an investor relations role out of interest in the venturing space.
George Gogolev, Severstal Ventures’ general manager, said of Molchanova: “She proved an extremely fast learner and a great analyst. In a few months we had her closing follow on deals with almost no supervision. No detail is left unnoticed and no amount of unstructured data is a challenge.”
Regarding her success, Molchanova highlighted: “I am particularly pleased to have worked on and contributed to the investment committee approval of our participation in Modumetal’s series A2 investment round.
“I was able to see how the funding we have helped the company complete a business turnaround. It is now on track to meet its financial year 2021 targets and milestones, while also engaging with Severstal as a prospective client. The Severstal Ventures team is generally very committed to helping its portfolio companies through difficult times.”
Fernando Moncada Rivera
Fernando Moncada Rivera is a reporter at Global Corporate Venturing and also host of the CVC Unplugged podcast.
