Henri Jaanimägi, founder and global head at eBay Ventures, is one of the 100 leading corporate venturing professionals in our 2026 Powerlist.
Henri Jaanimägi founded eBay Ventures in early 2022 as eBay’s global corporate venture capital unit.
Since then, he has built the unit around a clear mandate: to invest in companies that give eBay visibility into the technologies, business models and consumer behaviours shaping the next era of ecommerce, while supporting these startups with eBay’s vast scale, network and know-how.
That mandate sits at the centre of a fast-changing marketplace landscape. Consumers now have access to increasingly specialised platforms, from The RealReal in luxury pre-loved to Back Market in refurbished electronics. At the same time, AI is reshaping how people discover, list, price and buy products online, creating new challenges, but also new opportunities for incumbents like eBay.
eBay is a global ecommerce platforms with deep strength across recommerce, in categories like collectibles, pre-loved fashion, refurbished goods and overall enthusiast-driven categories.
As Jaanimägi told GCV last year, “We have around 2.4 billion listings on the platform, a large share of which are in recommerce. That includes pre-loved, refurbished, outlet, and returns inventory, where unique supply and buyer confidence have an outsized impact. eBay has spent decades building trust, and that is a big part of why the platform has continued to lead in this space.”
For Jaanimägi, venture investing is one way for eBay to stay close to the edge of innovation. He added, “I wanted to see if there were ways for us to move faster and take more daring decisions.”
EBay Ventures focuses on early-stage, multi-stage investments in disruptive companies that are reimagining the commerce landscape, such as “next-gen shopping formats” and “smarter commerce enablement”.
As of early 2026, the unit has made over 20 investments globally, including companies such as TrueLayer, an open banking platform; Phia, a fashion shopping assistant; and Decart, a leading player in real-time world models.
Jaanimägi, whose team is based in Europe and North America, is showing how a scaled global marketplace can use venture investing not just as a financial tool, but as a strategic lens into the future of commerce. Rather than chasing broad venture themes, eBay Ventures is focused on areas where eBay has a clear right to win, such as live and circular commerce, preloved fashion, collectibles, seller infrastructure, trust and AI-enabled commerce.
As the eBay Ventures portfolio grows, Jaanimägi’s focus is on scaling the model: helping a lean global team continue to deliver outsized impact by converting venture activity into strategic insight, commercial opportunities and deeper access to the companies shaping the future of commerce.
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:
