Rajiv Menon, managing director at Cisco Investments, is one of our top 50 Emerging Leaders in corporate venturing for 2026.
Rajiv Menon joined Cisco in 2003 as a business development manager, having already co-founded a startup. That experience gives him a perspective into the startup journey: renting out office space, buying the first computer and calling on prospective customers without the backing of a known brand.
“A founder’s journey is amazing, but incredibly hard,” says Menon. “That experience fundamentally changed me as a person.”
Menon leads Cisco Investments’ Asia Pacific, China and Japan team, while also serving as global investments and acquisitions lead for the company’s enterprise networking, wireless, internet-of-things and mobility domains.
His path to that dual role included heading what was then Cisco Capital’s Asia-Pacific and Japan operations, before senior VP Derek Idemoto invited him to join the Cisco Investments team in 2016.
“I have had the privilege of seeing it from the other side, having run operational businesses,” Menon says. “That experience helps me every day as I meet with founders and try to understand the opportunities and challenges they are facing.”
Based in Singapore, Menon has been actively evaluating AI investments across southeast Asia and globally, as part of the team deploying the $1bn AI fund Cisco announced in mid-2024.
“Singapore punches above its weight in the startup investing world,” he says, emphasising the city-state’s outsized role in enterprise technology innovation.
According to Menon, the most exciting part of his job is the constant exposure to emerging technologies. “It is a chance to learn about new technologies all the time. I do not know if I appreciated how rewarding that would be when I first accepted the role,” he says.
“You are constantly having to master new spaces. For someone who has been a founder, that restlessness feels familiar. It is what makes the work worth doing.”
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.
