Welcome back to the EUCVC Summit Talks, where we bring you candid conversations with Europe’s leading founders, corporate leaders, and investors shaping the future of venture collaboration.
In this session, Linn Clabburn, Head of CVC at Inter IKEA Group, and Destana Herring, Partner at Regeneration.VC, explore how corporates and VCs can partner with founders without overshadowing them.
From aligning on objectives to translating “corporate scale” into startup reality, Linn and Destana share how trust, sparring, and clarity in the boardroom can make or break collaboration.
🎧 Here’s what’s covered:
00:10 Scale with, not over, founders: why trust is the foundation.
01:00 The “love triangle” — navigating the CVC, VC, and founder dynamic.
02:30 Different ambitions, shared value — why alignment before investing is key.
04:00 Case study: IKEA + Regeneration joint investment and aligning KPIs.
05:00 Translation role of VCs — turning corporate jargon into tangible founder action.
06:00 What scale means at IKEA vs. in a startup — and how to bridge the gap.
07:00 Success looks different — iterating market applications until corporate fit arrives.
08:00 Boardroom courage — how to challenge each other without pulling founders apart.
09:00 Unified front — why investors must spar privately, align publicly.
You can listen to the full session on Apple Podcasts and Spotify 🎧
✍️ Show Notes
The “Love Triangle” Dynamic
CVCs, VCs, and founders must build alignment early.
Corporates bring ambition and scale; VCs translate and spar; founders need clarity, not confusion.
Pre-Investment Alignment
Joint KPI setting before investing prevents misaligned boardroom debates.
Avoid heavy-handed corporate stakes — co-investing with VCs often delivers better outcomes.
VCs as Translators
VCs bridge corporate ambition and founder bandwidth.
They distill corporate language into concrete milestones founders can execute on.
Scale Means Different Things
At IKEA, “scale” means global volumes; to founders, it’s the next production batch.
Successful partnerships match these perspectives without overwhelming startups.
Boardroom Dynamics
The best sparring happens off-stage between investors.
Unified messaging in the boardroom empowers founders rather than pulling them apart.
💡 One-liner takeaway:
The best corporate–VC–founder partnerships align early, spar privately, and scale together — without losing sight of the founder’s vision.
