Vinícius Marcílio, head of corporate venture capital at Montreal Ventures, is one of our top 50 Rising Stars in corporate venturing for 2026.
Vinícius Marcílio heads the venture arm of Brazilian digital transformation services provider Montreal, but that leadership role does not mean he is sitting on his laurels. For him, the best part of the job is accessing new experiences and getting to work with new companies and exploring new markets.
“I really like to do new things every day,” he says. “I like to work with new companies, and I like to work in new markets and find out more about them. I believe that helps me to understand more about how things go on the market and, on a philosophical level, why people buy something or create something new.
“I like to go deeper on the person, go deeper on the client and go deeper on the market. That has helped me to know more about life and more about me.”
“Corporate venture capital units need to move fast, but while the company has its own process and its own governance, you have to make ideas penetrate not only on the board level, but on the operational level.”
That desire to delve deeper and explore new things was part of what led to Marcílio leading the ideation and creation of Montreal Ventures in 2024, setting out the investment structure and processes for the unit and amalgamating the corporate’s existing investments into what is now a five-strong portfolio. He also designed the structure of Montreal’s accelerator programme, MoVe.
Unlike some other unit heads, Marcílio brings a strong background in finance to the role – he has a master’s degree in economics and was previously controller at Montreal – rather than vast strategic experience.
But his life is not just spreadsheets. When he is not working, Marcílio plays the piano and saxophone, and harmony is an improtant consideration in the workplace, too.
“Corporate venture capital units need to move fast, but while the company has its own process and its own governance, you have to make ideas penetrate not only on the board level, but on the operational level,” he says. “You cannot hurt the culture, because the culture fights back.”
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.
