Q&A with Victoria Lietha, principal, ABB Technology Ventures
Victoria Lietha is a principal at ABB Technology Ventures, the strategic venture capital arm of global technology group ABB. Her current position includes responsibility for selected VC fund investments from sourcing to investing and managing LP relationships as well as direct investments in Startups in ATV’s focus areas such as industrial IoT, robotics, electric transportation and distributed energy.
Over the course of her time at ATV she has been involved in the due diligence of dozens of unclosed deals, supported several successful investments, was leading two VC fund investments, one in Israel and one in China, and she was co-leading the investment in Hailo in Israel, and she is currently leading one yet undisclosed deal with expected closing soon.
Career advancement at ATV:
Based in Zurich, Victoria joined ATV in 2017 as a market development partner and was responsible for conducting deal-specific market and technology analysis as well as external and internal coordination of portfolio company activities. In her next position as Engagement and Venture Partnership Lead she supported the ATV investment team with direct investments in Startups across the entire process. Additionally, she developed and managed a global partnering strategy to build and cultivate engagements with key stakeholders from the startup ecosystem. Victoria also acted as champion in internal expert groups, advised different startup initiatives across the organization, conducted sector studies to identify investment opportunities and founded and led an internal startup associate network.
Lietha said: “One of the things I enjoy the most is the opportunity to continuously deep dive into new topics and along the way learn from the best. I have the chance to not only connect with incredibly smart people inside ABB but also some of the most amazing and driven founders. With the breadth of investment themes at ABB, I can look at new solutions truly shaping how we produce, work, live and move.”
Kurt Kaltenegger, group vice-president and head of technology ATV, added: “Victoria is excellent at developing long-term visions and keeping the big picture in mind, while still knowing when it is important to dive into details. Paired with a natural curiosity in really learning about new things, makes her a great contributor to our team, especially also in identifying investment opportunities further from the core and in challenging assumptions.”
