Elias Habbar-Baylac, sustainability investment lead, chief sustainability office at Cisco, is one of our top 50 Rising Stars in corporate venturing for 2026.
Elias Habbar-Baylac has built a corporate venturing career at the intersection of climate impact, infrastructure and strategy. He joined Cisco three years ago to co-lead the Cisco Foundation Regenerative Future Fund, launched in 2021 by the Cisco Foundation, to invest in early-stage energy, sustainability and resilience technologies.
During that time, Habbar-Baylac has helped deliver two exits: Jaza Energy and RapidAIM.
“His role sits at the intersection of sustainability, strategy and venture capital, and he has proven how he can advance both corporate sustainability impact and long-term commercial strategy,” says Kelsi Doran, vice president of sustainability and purpose strategy at Cisco.
Habbar-Baylac looks at how sustainability can be a driver of commercial success. He helps uncover new value streams and drive future cost savings, creating a platform where the company’s environmental goals and long-term strategic growth are aligned.
“Understand where value is created, who owns the budget and how success is measured. Be a coalition builder, earn trust internally and set clear expectations with founders.”
The challenge, he says, is managing the constant tension between speed and governance, experimentation and accountability, while at the same time delivering business value. Educating stakeholders on how patient their capital is required to be for climate and energy technologies remains central to the role.
His advice to newcomers is to start with the business not the deal. Understand where value is created, who owns the budget and how success is measured. Be a coalition builder, earn trust internally and set clear expectations with founders.
The Cisco Foundation Regenerative Future Fund is a $50m, impact-first vehicle with a portfolio of 30 companies and funds. It invests in startup funding rounds between pre-seed and series A, with cheque sizes between $500,000 and $1m. The team targets emerging companies with scalable solutions in energy systems, carbon and nature, circular economy and climate adaptation.
The Rising Stars are early-career corporate venture professionals who are making an outstanding contribution to their teams and the industry.
See the full list of Rising Stars 2026 here.
