Peter Schiff, investment manager at Verbund X Ventures, is one of our top 50 Rising Stars in corporate venturing for 2026.
Peter Schiff has been with Verbund Ventures, the corporate venturing arm of Austrian energy provider Verbund, since it was founded in 2022 and has been instrumental in shaping the unit’s investment thesis, structure and approach, say his teammates.
Trained in mechanical engineering, Schiff did further degrees in business and finance and worked as a consultant for private equity funds, before joining Verbund’s new venturing team.
The CVC is set up as a separate legal entity to the energy utility parent. It has €10m allocated to it each year and can invest cheque sizes of up to €5m without having to ask the board.
The team invests in renewable energy, green mobility and energy storage, and is starting to make more deep tech investments. Schiff has his eye on quantum technology and how it can improve the security of energy assets. He has also started looking into the electrification of high temperature heat.
“We want to grow our portfolio very strongly and aggressively right now… There are good deals out there. Now is the right time to find the right deals and get them done.”
For a small fund, the CVC has a well-staffed team of eight, who invest in seed and series A startups. Last year, Verbund made three investments, but wants to ramp that up in 2026. “We want to grow our portfolio very strongly and aggressively right now,” he says.
It is a good time to invest, Schiff says, because of less competition for cleantech fundraising deals. “We see rounds getting smaller and smaller. That gives us more bargaining power.”
The flipside is that he also sees cleantech startups struggling to raise follow-on rounds. “Everybody is focused on cost-cutting and there are fewer funds available. But that is not the right answer, in my opinion.
“There are good deals out there. Now is the right time to find the right deals and get them done.”
The team has what he calls knowledge sharing relationships with its investments. One of these is with a startup that does energy forecasting and another that does virtual power plants technology.
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.
