Joshua Mueller, principal at T. Capital, is one of our top 50 Emerging Leaders in corporate venturing for 2026.
Although T. Capital was only formally founded in 2023, the pedigree of deals Joshua Mueller and his team have secured in that time is notable and speaks to the strength of the four-person unit. The group recently invested in Perplexity, the San Francisco-based AI search engine that delivers results in conversational form, ElevenLabs, an AI audio platform that creates realistic speech, and Decagon, AI customer support automation.
Mueller’s path to CVC began with a strategy consulting position at Roland Berger, followed by a role in venture clienting and equity investments with German retail conglomerate Schwarz Gruppe. He then joined DTCP, the investment firm backed by Deutsche Telekom among other LPs, and later launched the T. Capital sub brand.
Mueller highlights the breadth of investment opportunities that comes with investing on behalf of Deutsche Telekom. Access to business units in the core telecommunications product line, B2B services, managed services and the adjacent sectors, such as AI, energy and emerging technology allow the team to pursue diverse opportunities. This same scope also brings inherent challenges, including coordinating across the many business units, identifying the right internal sponsors and aligning startup speed with corporate decision-making.
“AI continues to be at the forefront of Mueller’s investment strategy, but he approaches it with a strategic eye towards the company’s value chain”
AI continues to be at the forefront of his investment strategy, but he approaches it with a strategic eye towards the company’s value chain.
For those new to corporate venture, Mueller recommends thinking “not only as an investor, but also as a translator” to bridge startup speed and risk with corporate processes and priorities.
The $2.3bn fund invests in between six and 10 startups annually and focuses on investments in telecommunications and adjacent businesses, including B2B, B2C, software and AI. The team targets series A and later-stage companies that have market traction and are mature enough to engage with the large corporate parent.
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.
