Christian Gammill, fund manager and co-GP at Cultivate Next, is one of our top 50 Emerging Leaders in corporate venturing for 2026.
Christian Gammill’s experience in the innovation economy is not for the faint-hearted. He has worked as a chemist at a startup in the pharmaceutical industry, built a structural equation model during his time at IBM, been a founder and held VC roles at various units. He has invested in multiple startups as a GP, more than 10 venture funds as a LP and is currently the founder, fund manager and general partner at Cultivate Next, the corporate VC arm of restaurant operator Chipotle Mexican Grill.
Speaking of how the fund came about, Gammill says, “It was the classic VC network story – a friend mentioned Chipotle was interested in doing a fund and helped set up the meeting. It just took place from there.”
Established in 2022, Cultivate Next is a $100m fund that makes early-stage investments focused on the future of food across the value chain. Areas of interest include innovations in farming, supply chain, advanced robotics and ingredient innovation.
When setting up the fund, Gammill ensured it operated as a separate investment company.
“Spend time networking and learning from people with CVC experience and battle scars. It will help you find your natural and authentic champions”
“We are not employees, we operate outside the four walls of the corporate. It gives us a bit of a different vantage point and opens up the entirety of the food value chain.”
It also puts Gammill in a good position to deliver on Chipotle’s ethos of “cultivating a better world”. “It is why we work with the farms so much. Cultivating a better world is, in part, making sure the farming community is economically viable and stable. It is about making sure we have better options for our produce. That is what makes it so exciting.”
A key piece of advice for anyone getting into corporate venturing, according to Gammill, is the need to really know the CVC model and lean into it.
“Also, spend time networking and learning from people with CVC experience and battle scars. It will help you find your natural and authentic champions.”
The Emerging Leaders are mid-career corporate venture professionals who are making an outstanding contribution to their teams and the industry.
See the full list of Emerging Leaders here.
