In today’s connected, highly competitive, and globalized economy, there is intense competition for new business models. Traditionally, corporations have competed against one another, but increasingly, startups are also entering direct competition with established companies.

Corporate venturing offers a structured approach to finding and developing new business models.  But what exactly does it mean to develop a venture, and how does a venture builder differ from other models like venture capitalists or incubators?

This guide explores the core principles of venture building, its processes, and how corporates can leverage this strategy to drive successful new business innovation.

1. What is Venture Building?

Venture building is a comprehensive strategy within corporate innovation, focused on systematically creating new businesses and business models from the ground up.

Unlike venture capitalists, who primarily invest in existing startups, venture builders actively and holistically build companies based on innovative ideas. This process typically involves identifying market opportunities, assembling teams, developing products, and launching them into the market.

In addition to venture building and venture capital, there is a third approach: venture clienting. In this model, established companies collaborate closely with startups to acquire innovative products and services without taking equity stakes.

These three methods—often framed as "Buy, Partner, or Build"—are distinct but complementary:

• Venture Building ("Build"): Buildingbusinesses from the ground up, from market research to launch.
• Venture Capital ("Buy"): Investingi n existing high-growth startups to support their expansion.
• Venture Clienting ("Partner"): Leveraging startup innovations through partnerships without ownership.

By leveraging these strategies, companies can balance risk and innovation to secure long-term success.

How Venture Building Differs from Related Concepts

Venture building takes a distinct and hands-on approach to innovation; understanding its differences from related models helps clarify its specific role and strengths.

• Strategic Foresight involves systematically identifying and interpreting shifts in the business environment to craft long-term strategies. It allows companies to anticipate future challenges and opportunities, often serving as the first step in the innovation process and shaping the direction of venture building. For a deep dive into how foresight and venture building work together check out our whitepaper "Strategic Foresight and Venture Building: How to find High-Quality Business Opportunities".‍
• Inkubators and Accelerators are crucial components of the startup ecosystem. While incubators focus on supporting early-stage startups with resources like office space, mentorship, and guidance, accelerators help startups in their later stages by providing intensive support, networking opportunities, and funding options to prepare them for rapid scaling.‍
• Intrapreneurship, also known as corporate entrepreneurship, refers to encouraging innovation within an established company. Employees are given the freedom to think and act as entrepreneurs, developing new projects and products that could benefit the corporation. One effective approach to intrapreneurship is the KICKBOX methodology, which provides employees with the tools and processes to ideate, validate, and execute innovative ideas. Intrapreneurship programs like KICKBOX not only encourage innovation within existing structures but can also serve as a catalyst for corporate venturing.‍
• Mergers & Acquisitions (M&A) is a strategy used by corporates to expand their innovation capacity quickly through the acquisition or merging of other businesses. This approach provides access to new technologies, talent, and markets but often comes at a high cost compared to venture building, where corporates can develop similar innovations at a fraction of the price.‍
• Venture Studios: A venture studio offers corporates a structured platform to continuously develop and scale new business ideas. Unlike traditional innovation departments, which are often embedded within the corporate structure, a venture studio is intentionally designed to operate outside the core organization. This autonomy provides the flexibility and agility required for building new business models. While venture studios share similarities with venture builders, they focus on creating a continuous innovation process where multiple ventures are developed and scaled simultaneously. If you're interested in learning more about venture studios and how they can drive innovation for your business, check out our whitepaper "The Corporate Venture Studio: An effective Scaling Plattform for New Business Innovation".

The Role of a Venture Builder

A venture builder is not just a service provider in the strategic innovation process but a full-service innovation partner. By combining their proven expertise, networks, and resources with the parent company’s strengths and resources, venture builders transform identified opportunities into successful ventures.

They take a founder’s perspective, actively shaping every step of the journey—from idea generation to scaling. Leveraging methodologies such as Lean Startup, DesignThinking, and Agile Development, they ensure rapid and adaptable product creation.This holistic approach maximizes the venture’s potential for success, integrating business and technology end-to-end.

2. The Venture Building Process

The process of venture building is generally divided into four main phases: Explore,Validate, Build, and Grow. Each phase is designed to address specific objectives, systematically mitigate risks, and enhance the venture’s chances of success.

Phase 1 - Explore: Identifying Opportunities

The first phase involves generating concrete venture opportunities. This is when companies explore long-term trends and market shifts with methods such as strategic foresight to uncover potential business opportunities. Venture builders draw on their knowledge of both corporate innovation and market dynamics to identify new opportunities and adapt business models that have worked in other industries.

To support this, qualitative research methods such as interviews with users and industry experts are employed to gain a deeper understanding of market needs and emerging trends. Quantitative techniques, including data analysis powered by AI, help uncover hidden patterns and insights. These combined approaches enable venture builders to refine concepts, define the vision, and develop key hypotheses around the opportunity. Ultimately, this process leads to a thorough exploration of potential ventures, resulting in concrete plans for further validation and next steps in the venture-building process.

In the explore phase, nothing is being built yet. To ensure a smooth process thereafter, a status check of the corporate setup for venturing is advisable.If no previous ventures have been developed, there might be bottlenecks that can easily be addressed at this stage.

Phase 2 - Validate: Testing the Concept

Validation is a critical step in the venture-building process, as it tests the core assumptions and hypotheses around the business opportunity. This phase focuses on determining whether the proposed venture is viable and aligns with market demands, ensuring that resources are invested wisely.

A variety of methods are used to gather insights during this phase. Smoke tests help gauge customer interest by running minimal marketing campaigns, while rapid and digital prototyping enable quick iterations and early feedback on the product concept. Techniques like 404 tests measure demand for products or services that are not yet fully developed, and in B2B contexts, commercial validation with the goal of securing first Letters of Intent (LOIs) are proven ways of validating the business proposition.

While the ideal outcome is for prototypes to confirm initial assumptions, it’s common for new insights to make concept refinements necessary. These new findings guide adjustments to critical aspects, such as the target customer group or the value proposition, ensuring the concept is market-ready. Additionally, a business case is developed, to showcase the economic and strategic advantages of the venture, providing clarity to stakeholders and demonstrating its potential value.

Phase 3 - Build: Product Development and Market Launch

The build phase is all about implementation. It covers everything from branding, product design, software development, go-to-market strategy, and onboarding the first customers.

The Minimum Viable Product (MVP), is developed using lean principles to ensure a quick market entry. The venture builder employ agile software development methods and cutting-edge technologies to bring the MVP to the market as quickly as possible. This allows for rapid customer feedback and iteration.

While building the product and preparing for the launch, the intended venture setup is implemented to have it ready by the time of launch. Depending on the setup-design, this can include employing a legal sandbox, founding the legal entity, searching for an entrepreneur in residence and first team members all the way to setting up governance, reporting and admin processes. To identify the optimal venture setup for your innovation strategy, you can make use of our "Venture Setup Decision Tree".

Phase 4 - Grow: Scaling and Optimization

After a successful market entry, the focus shifts to scaling the venture. Once product-market fit is assessed, comprehensive sales and marketing strategies are implemented to drive growth. Venture builders tap into their network of investors and advisors to secure additional funding and attract experienced entrepreneurs to join the venture.

The growth phase marks the transition from a venture primarily run by a venture builder to one led by its own team with a distinct culture and identity. Key activities during this phase include recruiting top talent, integrating new team members, and ensuring a seamless transfer of responsibilities to establish the venture as a fully independent company.

3. Conclusion

Corporate venture building has emerged as a game-changer for corporates aiming to innovate beyond their core business. By adopting a systematic, end-to-end approach, it allows businesses to identify opportunities, test ideas, and scale successful ventures—all while mitigating risks and optimizing resources. Unlike traditional innovation methods, venture building combines speed, efficiency, and a founder's mindset to create ventures that align with corporate strategies while achieving sustainable growth.

For corporates looking to stay ahead in a highly competitive market, venture building offers a proven pathway to fostering disruptive innovation and unlocking new revenue streams. Whether you are exploring your first venture or seeking to refine your innovation strategy, corporate venture building can provide the tools, expertise, and frameworks necessary to succeed in today’s dynamic business environment.

Ready to explore how corporate venture building can drive your strategy forward? V_labs is a leading Venture Builder with offices in Vienna, Munich, Zurich, Dornbirn, and Budapest. We support you from ideation to scaling, creating tailor-made start-ups that align perfectly with your corporate strategy. 

‍Book a free 30-minute consultation with our Managing Partner to discuss opportunities tailored to your goals and get answers to all your questions.

Venture Building FAQs‍

• ‍What is Corporate Venture Building? Corporate Venture Building is a process where companies create new business models or start-ups to drive innovation. It leverages the company’s internal resources, expertise, and networks to develop market-ready solutions quickly. The goal is to tap into new markets or expand existing business areas.‍
• What does a Venture Builder do? A Venture Builder is a full-service provider that develops start-ups for corporates. They identify market opportunities, design business models, and manage the development process. With expertise, resources, and networks, they actively guide ventures from ideation to scaling.
• ‍What are Ventures? Ventures refer to innovative projects, start-ups, or business models created with the aim of developing new products, services, or technologies. Ventures typically operate as independent units that work agilely and focus on growth and market penetration.‍
• What does a Venture Architect do? A Venture Architect is a specialist responsible for designing and strategically planning new business models. Their primary tasks include conducting market research, identifying business opportunities, and creating business plans. A Venture Architect ensures the idea is economically viable and supports the team from concept to execution.