The rest of the 100 (in alphabetical order): Mel Gaceta, Mondel–ez
Mel Gaceta joined Nasdaq-listed packaged food and beverage producer Mondelēz International at the end of October 2018 to help establish a corporate venturing unit. Prior to joining Mondelēz, he was a managing director at financial services provider Synchrony’s corporate venturing arm Synchrony Ventures, head of business development at telecoms firm US Cellular’s strategic investment arm, and investment manager at communications technology producer Motorola’s corporate venturing subsidiary Motorola Solutions Venture Capital.
Mohit Bhalla, vice-president of corporate development, said: “We are fortunate to have Mel join Mondelēz supporting the ventures efforts in our new innovation hub SnackFutures. To be able to leverage his experience is invaluable and will allow us to scale at a quicker pace. His experience will be instrumental in designing the process, governance model and engaging the entrepreneurial ecosystem going forward.”
Gaceta came to appreciate the value of CVC because Motorola had recognised early that not everything could be developed internally – it had to leverage externally to succeed. Being a part of the founding team of all the venturing programs he has been involved in, he can attest to the value of CVCs.
As a native of Chicago, he said he was a “sports fanatic” and a “die-hard Chicago Cubs fan”, and he believes building a CVC team is similar to practising and perfecting a sport. “As most CVCs know, it takes time to build the processes, muscle memory and establish credibility across the ecosystem.”
