Lisa Schneider, investment manager at Aramco Ventures, is one of our top 50 Rising Stars in corporate venturing for 2026.
Lisa Schneider is an investment manager at Aramco Ventures, focusing on European climate and industrial tech companies.
She has focused on bringing innovation to large corporations since her time at university, where she wrote her bachelor’s thesis on managing radical innovation at large organisations. Schneider went on to help launch a pre-seed investment vehicle and company builder at German chemicals company BASF, called Chemovator.
“We took IP, talents and technologies that could not be commercialised within a corporate and then we spun them out. Within a two-year programme, we gave them pre-seed financing and staffed them with external and experienced founders,” she says. The ultimate goal was to get these businesses to the point where they could raise seed financing and spin out as independent entities.
“If you have the opportunity to put $1.5bn into industrial decarbonisation at one of the largest oil and gas companies in the world, what type of impact would that mean? I thought, this is a great opportunity.”
In 2023, Schneider joined Aramco Ventures, attracted by the ambition of the decarbonisation fund set up by the Saudi energy company. Aramco has committed more than $7bn to startup investment through various funds, including its $1.5bn Sustainability Fund, launched in 2022.
“If you have the opportunity to put $1.5bn into industrial decarbonisation at one of the largest oil and gas companies in the world, what type of impact would that mean? It is just unheard of,” she says. “I thought, this is a great opportunity.”
Schneider was also positively surprised by the strength of the female workforce working at the company across all sectors.
Her investment focus spans carbon removal, point source and direct air capture, advanced materials, renewable energy, robotics and AI. Schneider is particularly excited by recent developments in transition materials.
“Whether it is minerals or metals, and the way that you can extract them in a sustainable way, this an exciting space, with a lot of alternatives upcoming,” she says.
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.
