.jpg)
Why chasing disruption isn’t always the smartest play.
Corporate venture building is entering a new phase.
According to our 2025 study, the hype is fading – but the conviction is growing. Venture building is no longer seen as an experimental playground. It’s becoming a strategic discipline, embedded in long-term growth planning. And with that shift comes a sharper focus: less moonshot thinking, more adjacent innovation.
The smartest companies aren’t just betting big. They’re building where they already have an edge – launching ventures that use internal assets, solve known customer problems, and scale faster because they don’t have to start from zero.
In short: they’re building what only they can build.
Join our free webinar, "Scaling corporate ventures: Insights from founders who have made it" to learn how to turn your unfair advantage into a scalable venture.
The hidden superpowers corporates overlook
Many corporates default to start-up theatre, instead of asking:
“What unfair advantage do we actually have?”
If you can answer that, you’ve already shortened the path to product-market fit. You are not just validating a new idea – you are doing it with built-in trust, reach, and resources that others have to earn.
Why adjacent beats “out there”
In a time of economic uncertainty, the study shows a clear trend: companies are shifting their venture efforts towards adjacent business areas.
These ventures aren’t random – they’re tightly linked to the core. They allow corporates to play where they know the rules, speak the language, and already have relationships in place. This approach enables faster execution, lower risk, and clearer paths to scale.
This is not playing it safe. It’s playing it smart.
Scaling happens faster when the unfair advantage is real
Scaling is the hardest part of venture building. According to the study, 33% of teams say scaling is where they faced the most challenges.
That’s no surprise. Getting early traction is one thing. Building repeatable value delivery, hiring a team, expanding operations, and keeping product-market fit while growing? That’s a whole different game.
But scaling gets easier when your venture was born in the right place.
- When your customer already knows your brand.
- When your internal teams can help with logistics, legal topics, or credibility.
- When there’s already a pilot customer in-house.
That’s the power of unfair advantage.
Case in point: ventures that scaled through strategic edge
Take Northbound, for example. The venture, built inside DB Schenker, didn’t start with a blank page. It zeroed in on demurrage costs–a well-known but poorly solved logistics problem. The team used preexisting knowledge, customer access, and technical expertise to quickly build a solution. That’s why they were able to generate first revenue within months and secure VC funding just one year later.
Or look at Zusa. Their venture extended Energie AG’s sustainability ambition into a marketplace model – leveraging brand trust and corporate infrastructure to rapidly gain traction. These aren’t outliers. They are examples of what happens when you start with leverage.
Three filters for identifying unfair advantage
If you’re deciding where to build next, ask yourself:
- Speed – Can we move faster than others because of who we are?
- Credibility – Will customers believe us more than they would a new player?
- Access – Do we have channels, data, partners, or reach others can’t match?
If your venture scores high on all three, you’re not just building something new. You’re building something defensible.
Don’t let assets become a trap
There’s a caveat here: unfair advantage should empower your venture – not suffocate it.
We’ve seen cases where internal systems, compliance, or politics slowly killed the very edge the venture was supposed to have. So be careful. Leverage the core, but don’t let it dictate every move. Scale needs freedom too.
The bottom line: build where you’re strong, scale where others can’t follow
In this new phase of corporate venture building, success is no longer about who’s boldest. It’s about who is sharpest.
- Build where you can move faster.
- Build where your brand unlocks trust.
- Build where others can’t follow easily.
When you combine unfair advantage with operational focus and scaling discipline, you don’t just increase your odds – you redefine the game.
Join our free webinar, "Scaling corporate ventures: Insights from founders who have made it" to learn how to turn your unfair advantage into a scalable venture.
The state of corporate venture building 2025
We are at a pivotal moment. A new phase of new business building begins — shaped by uncertainty, driven by strategy and defined by results. Gain practical insights on how to become confident in building new business — even in times of economic uncertainty.
.jpg)
.jpeg)
