In an industry built around disruption, longevity is rare.
Corporate venture capital has matured dramatically over the past two decades, becoming an increasingly important bridge between large corporations and the startup ecosystem. Yet while the industry has grown, one characteristic has remained remarkably consistent: turnover. Programmes are launched and shut down, strategies are reinvented, corporate priorities shift, and leadership changes can reshape years of work in a matter of months. Many corporate venture units do not survive beyond their first few years.
Against this backdrop, the leaders featured in the Global Corporate Venturing Titans list stand apart.
Each Titan has led the same corporate venture programme for more than a decade—an extraordinary achievement in a field where maintaining strategic relevance, executive support and organisational momentum over such a long period is anything but guaranteed. Collectively, these leaders have navigated financial crises, market booms, technological revolutions, changes in corporate leadership and evolving expectations around the role of venture investing within large organisations.
The Titans list is not an award, nor is it a ranking. Rather, it is an acknowledgement that longevity creates a unique perspective. Leaders who have successfully guided programmes through multiple market cycles have accumulated hard-won lessons about building credibility, managing stakeholder relationships, demonstrating value, evolving investment strategies and maintaining resilience in the face of change.
Over the coming months, Global Corporate Venturing will work with the Titans to capture and share those lessons. Through a series of in-depth interviews and case studies, we aim to build a practical resource for the corporate venturing community—one that goes beyond individual success stories to explore the decisions, structures and leadership approaches that have enabled these programmes to endure and thrive.
At a time when many organisations are asking how to build more impactful and resilient venture programmes, there may be no better teachers than those who have already stood the test of time.
GCV has also published our annual Powerlist of the most influential corporate investors of 2026. These leaders are at the top of their game and are likely to join the Titans list once they have passed the decade-mark. See the Powerlist here.
A corporate investment unit that is seen as a nice-to-have operation is the first to be cut when the parent company hits a crisis point. But make it an embedded and trusted partner for the business, and it not only survives but becomes even more valuable in leading the recovery.
Suzanna Chiu, who heads up the investment arm at Amadeus IT, the provider of software systems to the travel sector, faced this test when the Covid 19 pandemic hit, halting global travel. Amadeus IT however chose to retain Chiu’s lean team as it was seen as a strong ally rather than a liability.
Biplab Adhya is a managing partner at Wipro Ventures, the corporate investment arm of Wipro. Founded in 2015, the team started with initial capital of $100m and has now grown to have $500m in assets under management. The unit invests in early to mid-stage companies building innovative enterprise software solutions.
Joel Albarella is senior vice president and head of New York Life Ventures, the corporate venture capital arm of New York Life Insurance Company. Albarella founded in the unit in 2012 and has seen assets under management grow to more than $1bn.
Sakae Asanuma has been running Taiho Ventures as founding president and CEO since its inception of 2016. Taiho Ventures is the strategic corporate venture capital arm of the Japanese specialty pharmaceutical company, Taiho. Headquartered in Menlo Park, California, the $400m evergreen fund invests in early-stage oncolog…
Tony Askew has over thirty years experience of building and financing early stage technology businesses. He was a co-founding partner of REV VC in 2000. Backed by the global analytics and technology company RELX Group the team invests in early- to mid-stage startups specialising in AI, big data, digital health, and ent…
Roy Bahat is the head of Bloomberg Beta, an early-stage venture capital firm backed by Bloomberg that invests in startups focused on the future of work. He has held this role since 2013.
John Banta serves as the president and managing director of the Blue Venture Fund, an $+1bn corporate venture fund sponsored by the BlueCross BlueShield Association. He has held the position since 2014.
Scott Beardsley is the managing partner and head of venture investments for Novo Holdings US in San Francisco. He has been in the role since 2014, leading a team focused on originating, executing, and managing life science, biotech, and growth equity investments globally.
Ken Bronfin is senior managing director of Hearst Ventures, the corporate venture capital unit of Hearst. Under Bronfin’s leadership, Hearst Ventures has grown to become one of the most active and successful corporate venture funds in the world with more than $1bn invested to date.
Andrew Challis is the co-founder and co-head of Principal Investments, a dedicated division within the Barclays Group responsible for executing, managing, and governing the bank's minority equity investments.
Rob Coppedge is CEO of Echo Health Ventures, a strategic venture capital and growth equity firm that invests in transformative healthcare, health technology, and digital health companies. Founded in 2016, it started as a strategic collaboration between Cambia Health Solutions and Mosaic Health Solutions, and now also s…
Suzanna Chiu is the Head of Amadeus Ventures, the startup investment program of Amadeus IT Group. Since its launch in 2014, Amadeus Ventures has focused on identifying early stage start-ups at the intersection of travel and technology.
Scott Darling is president of Dell Technologies Capital, the corporate development and venture capital arm of Dell Technologies. He tool on the role in 2016, following Dell's acquisition of EMC Corporation.
Basil Darwish is managing director of Wells Fargo Strategic Capital. He leads the venture and growth equity investments practice in fintech and enterprise IT. He has been in the role since 2016.
Thomas d'Halluin runs Airbus Ventures as a hybrid fund that maintains independence from Airbus corporation while bringing in outside capital, allowing him to combine aerospace industry insight with financial discipline.
Diego Díaz is the global head of ventures and technology at Iberdrola, where he leads the organization's corporate venture capital and new business program, Iberdrola Ventures - PERSEO.
Philippe Dufour is managing partner of Edenred Ventures, the independent investment arm of Edenred Group, the French digital payment and service platform. He co-founded the unit in 2012 and continues to oversee the group's venture capital and startup investment strategies.
Tarik Galijasevic is managing director of Allstate Strategic Ventures the corporate venturing arm of US insurer Allstate. Formed in 2015, ASV invests in early-stage startups and entrepreneurs whose technologies will help shape the future of the insurance industry and adjacent sectors.
Olivier Garel leads Unilever Ventures, venture and growth capital arm of Unilever, the consumer goods conglomerate. He has led the team for nearly 13 years, serving as managing partner since August 2013.
Patrick Griss is co-founder and executive partner of Zühlke Ventures, the early-stage investment arm of the Zühlke Group, the technology and services consultancy. He helped set up the group in 2010.
Edgar Hardless is the CEO of Singtel Innov8, Singtel's global corporate venture fund. He helped establish Singtel Innov8 in 2010 and was officially appointed to lead the unit in 2012.
George He is president of Lenovo Capital and Incubator Group, the corporate venture and innovation arm of the tech giant. He launched the unit in 2016, and under his leadership the firm has invested in more than 270 companies.
Brant Heise has been managing director at MemorialCare Innovation Fund, the corporate venture arm of the California-based MemorialCare Health System, since 2002. The fund invests in early- to mid-stage healthcare startups.
Richard Hsu is the head of Southeast Asia Investments at Susquehanna International Group, the privately held quantitative trading and technology firm. He has led the firm's venture capital efforts in the region since 2015, focusing on key technology sectors, including supply chain visibility, cybersecurity, and enterpr…
Tom Hulme is head of Europe at GV, Alphabet’s corporate venture arm, and has been co-lead of the tech investing team globally since 2014. GV one of the most active corporate investors globally, having made 69 startup investments in 2025.
Derek Idemoto is senior vice president of corporate development and Cisco Investments, leading Cisco's external innovation strategy and execution through acquisitions and investments. Since joining Cisco in 2007, he has led hundreds of acquisitions and investments totalling more than $50bn across Cisco's businesses.
Kester Keating runs early and growth stage equity investing for Barclays in the US. He has been in the role since 2013.
Roger Kitterman is a cofounder and a managing partner of Mass General Brigham Ventures and vice president of Mass General Brigham Innovation. Founded in 2008, and managing more than $450m in capital, the corporate venture capital arm of the Boston-based Mass General Brigham health system invests in early-stage life sci…
David Krane is CEO and managing partner at GV, the independent venture capital arm of Google’s parent company Alphabet. Managing over $10bn in assets, it provides funding and operational support to early- and growth-stage startups in technology, life sciences, AI, and consumer sectors.
Michael Lee is managing director at Syngenta Group Ventures, the corporate venture capital arm of Syngenta Group, a major global agriculture and biotechnology company. Based in Switzerland he has been in the role since 2013.
Crispin Leick set up EnBW New Ventures in 2016, as the evergreen investment arm of German electric utility firm Energie Baden-Württemberg. He had previously built an investment unit for German energy company RWE Innogy in 2010.
Jacqueline LeSage is the founder and former managing general partner of Munich Re Ventures, the corporate venture arm of Munich Re. She set up the unit in 2014, growing it from an initial $50m corporate venture programme to a platform managing more than $1bn in assets.
As managing partner of Tencent Investment, Jeffrey Li has helped make Chinese tech conglomerate Tencent one of the world’s most active corporate investors. He began his role in 2011, when the unit started, by investing in internet and gaming companies.
Quinn Li is a senior vice president and global head of Qualcomm Ventures. He leads Qualcomm’s $2bn+ global venture investment portfolio of 150+ companies across seven global regions.
Annabelle Yu Long is the founding and managing partner of BAI Capital. Originally founded in 2008 as Bertelsmann Asia Investments, part of the German media and education conglomerate Bertelsmann, this Beijing-headquartered invests in Chinese technology and consumer startups.
Ben Luckett is the founding managing director of Aviva Ventures having set the fund up in 2015 as part of Aviva's broader growth and innovation strategy.
Russell MacTough is managing director of Liberty Mutual Strategic Ventures, the corporate venture capital arm of Liberty Mutual Insurance, a role that he has held since 2015.
Amey Mashelkar is the Head of JioGenNext, Reliance's startup accelerator programme, a position he has held since 2014. Its primary goal is to help early-stage deep tech and digital startups scale by providing mentorship, resources, and direct access to integrate their technologies within the massive Reliance and Jio ec…
Patrick Meisberger co-founded CommerzVentures in 2014, and continues to serve as its managing partner. CommerzVentures was originally as the corporate venture capital arm of Commerzbank but became an independent entity in 2019. It manages €550m across three funds.
Mohr set up Evonik Venture Capital for German speciality chemicals provider Evonik 14 years ago and has run it since as managing director.
Søren Møller is managing investment director of seed investments at Novo A/S, a position he has held since 2011. In 2017 he set up Novo Seeds to act as the early-stage investment arm of Danish investment fund Novo Holdings. The firm is now one of the top investors in biotech startups in Denmark and the Nordics.
Chris Moran is the executive director and general manager of Lockheed Martin Ventures; the venture capital investment arm of Lockheed Martin Corporation. He has been in the role since 2016.
Takashi Morishita established and currently serves as general manager of Asahi KaseiCorporate Venture Capital. With over 25 years of experience in venture capital, he has invested in more than 60 start-ups across Europe, the US, and China.
Ryu Muramatsu is founding partner at GMO Venture Partners, the dedicated investment subsidiary of the Japanese technology conglomerate GMO Internet Group. Founded in 2005, the Tokyo-based firm invests in early-stage and growth-stage investments in fintech, e-commerce, ad-tech, and enterprise SaaS sectors across Japan, …
Norbert Muschong helped set up Vorwerk Ventures, the investment arm of the German direct-selling company, in 2007 and led the team as managing partner since. Managing over €400m in assets, the firm provides early-stage funding to technology and consumer-centric European startups.
Nick Naclerio is the founding partner at Illumina Ventures, an early-stage venture capital firm focused on genomics and precision health. He launched the fund in 2016.
Shin Nagakura is a senior corporate executive officer at Transcosmos, the Japanese business process outsourcing group, and was the funding member of the company’s corporate venturing unit based in California in the early 2010s. He has executed more than 100 deals across the US, EU, ASEAN, China, South America, and Jap…
Shinzo Nakano is president and CEO of Itochu Technology Ventures, the investment arm of Itochu Corporation, one of the largest trading conglomerates in Japan. He founded the venture unit in 2000.
Minette Navarrete is founder and managing partner of Kickstart Ventures, the corporate venture capital arm of Globe Telecom, the leading mobile operator in the Philippines. Founded in 2012 and headquartered in Makati, Philippines, it manages the country's largest technology venture capital fund.
David Pierson is a managing director with Syngenta Group Ventures, a role he has held since 2012. Syngenta Group Ventures is the corporate venture capital arm of the global agriculture corporation, Syngenta Group. Founded in 2009 and headquartered in Basel, Switzerland, it invests in startups and technologies that tran…
Arvind Purushotham is global head of Citi Ventures, the corporate venture capital and innovation arm of Citigroup. Purushotham founded the unit in 2010.
Ingo Ramesohl has been managing director at Bosch Ventures since 2015. Founded in 2007, the corporate venture capital arm of the German multinational engineering and technology company Bosch Group invests in early- and late-stage deep-tech startups.
Sven-Olof Reimers is managing director at Bauer Venture Partners, the strategic corporate venture capital arm of the Bauer Media Group. Based in Hamburg, Germany, it invests in early-stage and growth-stage startups in the digital media, fintech, software, and publishing sectors across Europe.
Tor Repstad is the CEO of Å Energi Venture, the corporate venture capital arm of Å Energi, one of Norway's largest renewable energy utilities. Headquartered in Kristiansand, Norway, the firm focuses on investing in early to mature-stage companies driving the transition to clean energy and climate solutions.
Tyrell Rivers is executive director of corporate development at AstraZeneca, where he is responsible for creating and executing innovative, value-enhancing business strategies. He has been in this role since 2014.
Bryce Roberts cofounded O'Reilly AlphaTech Ventures in 2005. The fund was born out of O'Reilly Media but now acts as a independent firm. At OATV Roberts focuses on consumer and enterprise software and services investments.
Philipp Rose is managing director of RBVC, the corporate venture capital arm of the global engineering and technology company Robert Bosch, a position he has held since 2014. He is responsible for all commercial aspects of RBVC besides being one of the investment partners of the unit, which manages over $1bn in capital…
Doug has served as managing partner and head of MassMutual Ventures since its formation in July 2014. MassMutual Ventures is the corporate venture capital arm of the Massachusetts Mutual Life Insurance Company. It invests primarily in enterprise SaaS, fintech, cybersecurity, health tech, and climate technology startups…
Kotaro Sasamoto is the managing partner at Dentsu Ventures, responsible for overall fund management, sourcing and valuation, and portfolio company support. Cofounded the group in 2015.
David Schulte joined McKesson Ventures in 2014 as a managing director and has helped build out one of the industry’s strongest pharma services portfolios. McKesson Ventures is a strategic venture firm backed by McKesson Corporation focusing on early and growth stage digital health and tech-enabled healthcare services c…
Scott Shapiro is the executive vice president of corporate development and strategy at Sinclair Broadcast Group, having launched the corporate development team in 2015. In this role, he leads the media organisation’s large-scale strategic investments, acquisitions, and organic growth opportunities.
Dan Sheehan is the vice president of venture capital at Medtronic, where he leads the company's corporate venture capital group, Medtronic Ventures. He has been in this role since 2008.
Jaidev Shergill, managing partner at Capital One Ventures, has run the corporate venture capital arm of US-based financial services firm Capital One for more than a decade.
Vinay Solanki is the head of Channel 4 Ventures, which he founded from scratch in 2015. As the the corporate venture capital arm of the UK's publicly owned broadcaster, Channel 4, it pioneered the "media-for-equity" investment model in the UK, providing consumer startups with advertising campaigns in exchange for an eq…
John Somorjai is president of Salesforce Ventures. John helped found Salesforce Ventures in 2009 and since then the team has invested more than $5bn in 400 companies from seed to IPO.
Bill Taranto is president of the MSD Global Health Innovation Fund, the corporate venture capital arm of the pharmaceutical giant MSD. Cofounded by Taranto in 2010, it manages a multimillion-dollar evergreen fund dedicated to investing in digital health and data science startups.
Vicente Vento cofounded DTCP in 2015, and serves as the unit’s CEO. A spin-out from Deutsche Telekom Capital Partners, DTCP focuses on investing in digital technology, software, and critical digital infrastructure. The firm has raised more than $2.5 billion in funds from corporate and institutional investors and inves…
Ben Wright is the vice president of 3M Ventures, the corporate venture capital and innovation arm of the multinational technology and manufacturing company, 3M. Wright has been in the role since 2017.
Shintaro Yamakami is the CEO of Colopl Next, the investment vehicle of Japanese mobile gaming company Colopl. Founded in 2015 and headquartered in Tokyo, Japan, it invests globally in early to growth-stage startups.
Sanghwan Yang, lead the Naver D2SF, the in-house corporate venture capital and accelerator arm of Naver, South Korea's leading tech giant. Founded in 2015, the centre focuses on identifying, incubating, and investing in early-stage, deep-tech startups.
A list like this can, almost by definition, never be quite complete, and we are always looking to add more names to this list.
If you know of a corporate venture leader who has been heading the same fund for more than a decade, please contact [email protected] to let us know.
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