Fabio Pucci, co-head of healthcare investments at Leaps by Bayer, is one of our top 50 Rising Stars in corporate venturing for 2026.
Fabio Pucci is a scientist by training – a qualification that helps him better understand the technologies he gets to engage with in his healthcare investment role at Leaps by Bayer, the corporate venturing arm of German multinational pharmaceutical and biotechnology company Bayer.
Pucci’s teammates describe him as someone who excels at navigating the internal corporate networks and processes, while also being an effective external board member at portfolio companies.
“I currently occupy seven board seats within the Leaps portfolio,” he says. “Not every company needs the same amount of time and involvement, so I dedicate more time to the ones that need more help.”
The healthcare team that Pucci co-heads recently received a broader mandate from the Bayer CEO that has widened the team’s investment focus. Previously, the CVC was mostly focused on pre-clinical, platform-based startups but is now agnostic about nearly every modality and every stage, says Pucci.
“This is a people job. You need to work well with others, back up what you say with sound logic and treat everybody with respect. That will go a long way.”
But that does not remove the challenges that come with the role, he says.
“As a corporate venture fund, we straddle strategic interest and financial return. This can be difficult and challenging on occasion, on top of the typical ones of picking the right companies.”
However, Pucci is quick to highlight the importance of building relationships when it comes to corporate venturing. “This is a people job. You need to work well with others, back up what you say with sound logic and treat everybody with respect. That will go a long way.”
As for new technologies that he has got his eye on, he says: “If I had to pick two, I would begin with bispecific and trispecific antibody technologies – it is the new gold rush – and targeted therapies. Those are the two areas that are really going to take over the treatment landscape in oncology and immunology in the next few years.”
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.
