Corporate Venture Capital at a Crossroads
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Corporate Venture Capital at a Crossroads
Regional Models and the Rise of Venture Builders
Corporate Venture Capital is being reconsidered.
Some organizations are expanding their venturing activity. Others are scaling back or shutting funds down entirely. At the same time, new models — venture studios, startup studios, venture builders — are gaining attention as alternative pathways for innovation and growth.
Despite the growing adoption of these mechanisms, many leaders still struggle with fundamental questions:
What problem is CVC actually designed to solve?
How do regional ecosystems shape what “good” looks like?
Are studio-based models genuinely different — or structurally similar to traditional approaches?
Join us for an intimate, interactive roundtable with Antonio Ghezzi.
Antonio is a Full Professor whose work sits at the intersection of strategy, entrepreneurship, corporate innovation, and business model design. He has launched and led long-standing observatory initiatives tracking high-tech startups, scale-ups, and emerging venture-building models, with a particular focus on how incumbents structure Corporate Venture Capital and venture-building activities to generate strategic advantage.
Drawing on research, ecosystem analysis, and real-world examples, this conversation explores how Corporate Venture Capital models differ across regions — particularly the US, Europe, and Italy — and how newer venture-building structures are reshaping the corporate venturing landscape.
As always, this will be an interactive dialogue, not a presentation. Members will engage directly with Antonio through discussion, examples, and candid exploration of the strategic and organizational implications of corporate venturing choices.
Things We Will Cover:
How Corporate Venture Capital models differ across regions — and why those differences matter
Why some CVC programs generate strategic value while others drift into financial portfolios
The strategic logic behind venture studios, startup studios, and venture builders
Where studio-based models complement — or compete with — traditional CVC structures
How leaders can choose the right venturing mechanism based on strategic intent
This conversation is designed for senior strategy, innovation, and transformation leaders navigating growth, uncertainty, and capability-building decisions who want a clearer lens on how corporate venturing models are evolving.