Welcome back to the EUCVC Summit Talks, where we bring you the candid insights of Europe’s leading founders, corporate leaders, and investors reshaping venture collaboration.
In this episode, Andreas Munk Holm speaks with Petr Míkovec, Managing Director of Inven Capital, the CVC arm of ČEZ, one of Central Europe’s most conservative utilities. From nuclear power plants to climate tech bets, Petr shares how Inven Capital was born inside a 30,000-person corporate giant—and why culture by design, not default, is the only way to make innovation stick.
From boardroom alignment to founder empathy, this conversation reveals what it takes to balance corporate DNA with startup speed—and how Inven Capital won founders’ trust despite starting from scratch.
🎧 Here’s what’s covered
00:00 Culture by design, not by default—why Inven Capital had to reinvent itself inside ČEZ.
01:38 Building credibility in a conservative culture—why early adopters matter more than the majority.
03:25 Workshops, t-shirts, and pyramids—breaking hierarchy to create founder empathy.
05:00 Involving the board—how Inven secured sponsorship and continuous support.
06:30 Bridging the brand gap between ČEZ and Inven—winning trust with transparency and feedback.
08:00 Respecting failures—why structured feedback became a cornerstone of founder relationships.
09:00 Finding the right distance—how to be independent from the mothership but still connected.
✍️ Show Notes
Culture by Design
Innovation doesn’t survive conservative defaults—culture must be designed deliberately.
Inven Capital embraced startup behavior (t-shirts, openness, playful rituals) to signal change.
Early Adopters, Not the Majority
ČEZ’s 30,000 employees were invited into the process.
Petr focused on innovators and early adopters, not the resistant majority, to seed internal momentum.
Board Sponsorship
Success required a sponsor at board level and alignment with ČEZ’s long-term horizon strategy.
Clear communication of the “why” ensured Inven was not a vanity project, but part of the group’s future.
Winning Founders’ Trust
Early days were hard—founders questioned decision speed and capital reliability.
Inven overcame this with transparency, structured feedback, and respect for failures, building reputation deal by deal.
Brand Bridge
Founders now vouch for Inven, even competing to provide references for them.
The brand shifted from corporate suspicion to founder advocacy.
Finding the Right Distance
CVCs must strike the balance between corporate DNA and startup speed.
“Not too far, not too close”—independence with respect for the parent culture is the formula.
💡 One-liner takeaway: Inven Capital proves that even the most conservative corporates can build trusted venture arms—if they design culture intentionally, empower early adopters, and earn founders’ respect through transparency and empathy.
