Stefan Gabriel, managing director and CEO of Hitachi Ventures, is one of the 100 leading corporate venturing professionals in our 2025 Powerlist.
Stefan Gabriel set up Hitachi Ventures in 2019 and has since then grown it to be a fund with $1bn in assets under management.
The compact yet impactful team of 21 investment professionals focuses on early-stage and follow-on investments across the digital, industry, energy and mobility sectors and supports co-creation and collaboration for social innovation across the world jointly with Hitachi’s SSIB (Strategic Social Innovation Business) unit. The latest fund, Fund IV, expands the investment scope. The CVC unit, which has a presence in Europe, North America and India, has a portfolio of 41 companies.
Gabriel built the unit with a dual mandate: aiming to be a go-to investor for high-growth startups, while simultaneously supporting Hitachi’s growth strategies. Being a “good and trusted investor” for startups is one part of our role, he says. Hitachi Ventures leads or co-leads nearly all investment rounds and advises actively via board (observer) seats.
Creating strategic value back to the parent corporation is also essential. Hitachi Ventures, jointly with the SSIB unit, has created more than 150 collaboration projects between startups and Hitachi business units in the past five years. These have generated additional revenues for Hitachi, in addition to harder-to-quantify intangible benefits, including providing what Gabriel calls “an ear to upcoming future markets and breakthroughs”.
Hitachi Ventures has created more than 150 collaboration projects between startups and Hitachi business units in the past five years.
He emphasises four key pillars of strategic value add to the corporate parent: advisory on future business strategy, setting up collaboration projects and showcasing business opportunities, entrepreneurial management training, and cultural transformation. Gabriel sees a key role for CVC as the sparring partner for corporate leadership, helping them understand emerging technologies, market trends and identify business opportunities in five to 10+ years horizons.
His vision is also to position corporate venture capital as “an innovation weapon”, proactively identifying and nurturing innovative technologies faster than competitors.
Gabriel previously founded and ran 3M’s CVC unit. He is an engineer and holds a PhD in strategic corporate venture capital from Huddersfield University, UK.
The Global Corporate Venturing Powerlist represents the 100 individuals spearheading the future of the corporate venturing industry.
These individuals excel in terms of their venturing approach and structure, number and quality of portfolio companies and in their contributions to the corporate venturing profession.
