Gema García González, director of open innovation and corporate venturing at Repsol, is one of the 100 leading corporate venturing professionals in our 2026 Powerlist.
Few corporate venture leaders embody continuity and change as clearly as Gema García González. A 25-year veteran of Spain-based energy company Repsol, she has moved from different positions related to energy efficiency, climate change and sustainability in the company before becoming director of open innovation and corporate venturing.
Founded a decade ago, Repsol’s corporate venturing unit has always invested in enabling technologies that help decarbonise energy-intensive businesses and transform the industrial core towards a net zero future.
Rather than behaving like a traditional CVC fund placing minority bets, the unit has embedded itself into Repsol’s industrial backbone. Through platforms like IdeAction, they give the startups the opportunity to test their technology and/or business model in Repsol’s assets.
This reflects a broader strategic reality. As Repsol recalibrates its energy transition investments toward profitability, venturing is under pressure to deliver more than optionality. It must produce deployable technologies, measurable efficiencies and returns.
García has also pushed outward by setting up initiatives like All4Zero with other energy sector partners. All4Zero’s purpose is to connect the talent and ideas emerging from companies, SMEs, startups, research centres and universities in order to develop and scale promising technologies in the fields of decarbonisation and circular economy.
Yet she is candid about the constraints. In a recent work with the European Innovation Council ecosystem, García highlighted the persistent “corporate gap”: slow procurement cycles, misaligned key performance indicators and low risk tolerance continue to stall collaboration with startups.
If there is a defining theme to her tenure, it is execution discipline. Repsol still scans more than 700 startups per year but increasingly filters for those that can survive the crucible of industrial deployment.
In a sector where many CVC units oscillate between strategic storytelling and financial returns, García is attempting something harder: aligning both with the physical realities of energy systems. That may ultimately be her most important contribution to the evolving role of corporate venture capital in the climate transition.
The GCV Powerlist represents the 100 individuals spearheading the future of the corporate venturing industry.
These individuals excel in terms of their venturing approach and structure, number and quality of portfolio companies and in their contributions to the corporate venturing profession.
Here’s a snapshot of their recent deals:
