Chelsea Plant, investment manager at 3M Ventures, is one of our top 50 Rising Stars in corporate venturing for 2025.
“I admire entrepreneurs and the bravery it takes to start something new,” says Chelsea Plant, investment manager at 3M Ventures. “That is what drew me to the venture role – the chance to work directly with these innovative founders and help their companies grow.”
Plant started her career in investment banking, but an MBA rerouted her into corporate strategy at 3M, where she discovered the corporate venture arm. Plant felt it was the perfect fit.
“This was where I wanted to be – doing deals, digging into the technical details and finding new ways our technologies could create value.”
As part of 3M’s seven-person investing team, Plant has embraced the role of a generalist at 3M, learning to navigate diverse industries from industrial to consumer to healthcare. “It is a constant learning process, but I love the challenge of quickly getting up to speed on new market spaces,” she says. “I find that my finance background gives me a valuable perspective when it comes to financial diligence and valuations.”
“It is about being a good listener, translator, and diplomat – constantly communicating to keep both sides aligned and moving forward.”
Plant is particularly excited about backing startups creating data centre technologies, as the AI boom increases the need for efficient compute power. At the end of last year, 3M Ventures invested in Ayar Labs, which provides optical interconnect technologies that can make data centre operations more efficient. Plant is also interested in seeing whether there are opportunities for new uses of 3M’s technologies in areas such as agriculture and climate tech.
Plant is also eager to deepen 3M’s footprint in Europe, having recently led investments in Swiss climate tech startup, Voltiris, and Dutch advanced manufacturing startup, Morphotonics.
Balancing the needs of 3M’s corporate priorities and the fast-paced startup world is no easy feat, but Plant thrives on the challenge. “It is about being a good listener, translator, and diplomat – constantly communicating to keep both sides aligned and moving forward.”
See the full list of Rising Stars 2025 here.
