GCVI Summit - Day 1

Tuesday, February 23

09:00 - 13:00

13:00 - 14:50

13:00 – 14:30

14:50 – 15:00

  • Welcome to the GCVI Summit where GCV will guide you through the structure of the programme, what to expect from the next few days and how to really maximize your time both in terms of networking and programme participation.

    Maija Palmer, Editor & Head of Content, GCV

    Charlie Hayward, Deputy Managing Director, GCV

15:00 - 15:30

15:30 – 16:00

16:00 - 17:30

Breakout tracks

Track A

Strategic excellence for CVCs

  • As corporations seek new growth opportunities, venture building has emerged as an increasingly important complement to traditional venture investing. This interactive discussion examines how organizations create new ventures from internal technologies, customer relationships and strategic capabilities while balancing entrepreneurial speed with corporate governance.

    • Why venture building?

    • Opportunity identification

    • Governance and operating models

    • Scaling and separation

Track B

Innovation intersections

  • This session includes a showcase of GCV member portfolios, a short panel discussion, group Q&A, and then networking time. Key sectors include mobility, logistics, and robotics, bringing together CVCs from:

    • AI

    • Robotics

    • Computer vision

    • Automation

    • Fleet management

    • Digital twins

    Supply chain map challenge: Individual tables will receive a large supply-chain map where participants identify:

    • Biggest operational bottlenecks

    • Technologies solving them

    • Potential collaborations

17:30 – 18:30

Welcome drinks reception

18:30 - 21:30

GCVI Summit - Day 2

Wednesday, February 24

07:30 - 08:30

08:30 - 08:45

  • James Mawson, CEO & Founder, GCV

08:50 - 09:20

09:20 - 09:50

09:50 - 10:20

  • Moderated by: Liz Arrington, Managing Director, GCV Institute

10:20 - 10:40

  • John McCarthy, Senior Director - Special AI Projects, Google DeepMind

    Moderator: Steve Jacobs, Founding Partner, Drumbeat Capital

10:40 - 11:00

  • Krishna Giadwani, Chief Strategy Officer, ServiceNow

11:00 - 11:25

11:25 - 11:45

11:45 - 12:15

12:15 - 12:35

    • Health

    • Energy

    • Communication

    • Finance

12:35 - 13:00

13:00 – 14:30

Luncheon reception

14:30 - 17:30

Breakout tracks

Track A

Operating excellence for CVCs

  • The most effective CVCs create platforms that help startups access customers, business units, technical expertise and global distribution channels. This interactive session, led by CVC input, explores how leading organisations build scalable startup engagement programmes that generate value for both portfolio companies and the corporation.

    • Beyond Capital

    • Building internal pathways

    • Designing effective founder support

    • Measuring strategic impact

Track B

Innovation intersections

  • This session includes a showcase of GCV member portfolios, a short panel discussion, group Q&A, and then networking time. Key sectors include energy, AI, and data centres bringing together CVCs from:

    • AI

    • Energy

    • Computer hardware

    • Semiconductors

    Powering AI scenario workshop. Groups work through:

    "How do we support a 10x increase in AI compute demand?"

    This gets investors talking outside their traditional sectors.

  • This session includes a showcase of GCV member portfolios, a short panel discussion, group Q&A, and then networking time. Key sectors include defence, mobility, and industrial technology bringing together CVCs from:

    • Defence

    • Mobility

    • Logistics

    • Industrials

    Mission-to-Market Exercise: Teams identify technologies with:

    • Defence use cases

    • Commercial applications

    • Corporate partnership opportunities

Track C

Other breakouts

    • Women in Venture

    • GCV Titans

    • Emerging Markets

17:30 – 19:00

Cocktail reception

GCVI Summit - Day 3

Thursday, February 25

07:30 – 09:00

09:00 - 09:05

  • Charlie Hayward, Deputy Managing Director, GCV

09:05 - 09:25

09:25 - 09:45

    • Comparing the pace of innovation between global powerhouses

    • How can M&A and CVC impact a corporate’s competitiveness on the global stage?

    • How feasible is it to open up data-centres and humanoid innovation?

    Holly Wu, Director – M&A, Venture & Partnerships, Mercedes-Benz

09:45 - 10:10

10:10 - 10:30

  • Gilman Louie, Co-founder and CEO, America’s Frontier Fund

    Jeff Karras, General Partner, America’s Frontier Fund

10:30 - 11:00

09:30 – 12:30

Breakout tracks

Track A

Operating excellence for CVCs

  • Increasingly, corporations are discovering that buying from startups can create more strategic value than investing in them. This session explores how venture clienting programmes help corporations access innovation faster while providing startups with critical early customers and validation.

    • The rise of venture clienting

    • Creating startup-friendly procurement

    • Measuring business impact

    • Building an innovation demand engine

  • As corporate venture portfolios mature, investors are increasingly focused on portfolio construction, value creation, liquidity management and exit strategies. Here, we examine how leading CVCs manage growing portfolios while balancing strategic and financial objectives.

    • The maturing CVC portfolio

    • Portfolio construction and active management

    • The role of AI in CVC operations

    • Driving portfolio value

    • Exits, secondaries and liquidity

Track B

Innovation intersections

  • This session includes a showcase of GCV member portfolios, a short panel discussion, group Q&A, and then networking time. Key sectors include healthcare, AI, and enterprise software technology.

    Networking Activity: Customer journey mapping.

    Groups redesign the patient journey using technologies showcased by the startups.

  • This session includes a showcase of GCV member portfolios, a short panel discussion, group Q&A, and then networking time. Key sectors include industrials, mobility, energy, and financial services.

    Networking activity: Climate investment committee

    simulation: Participants evaluate real startup opportunities together. This tends to create much deeper conversations than conventional networking.

Track C

Other breakouts

  • This session includes a showcase of GCV member portfolios, a short panel discussion, group Q&A, and then networking time. Key sectors include space, telecoms, defence, and AI.

    Networking Activity: Infrastructure Futures Workshop

    Groups design the global communications network of 2035.

12:30 – 14:30

Networking lunch

12:00 - 14:00

14:00 - 17:00

17:00

End of GCVI Summit