EUVC E416 | Nicolas Sauvage, TDK Ventures: Building a founder-friendly CVC and investing in DeepTech for long-term impact
Feb 20, 2025
53:46
In today’s episode of our CVC series, Andreas and our CVC in-house expert, Jeppe Høier, sit down with Nicolas Sauvage, President of TDK Ventures, the corporate venture capital arm of TDK Corporation, a global leader in electronics and materials technology. With $350 million in AUM across three funds, TDK Ventures focuses on hard tech, deep tech, and energy transformation. It invests between $250K and $10 million per deal while balancing strategic alignment with venture-scale returns.
Since founding TDK Ventures in 2019, Nicolas has built one of the market's most disciplined and entrepreneur-friendly CVCs, backing startups in sustainability, mobility, and advanced materials. Under his leadership, the firm has pioneered a unique "Diverse Advocate" investment process, ensuring rigorous due diligence and a first-principles approach to deep tech investing. In this conversation, Nicolas shares how TDK Ventures bridges the gap between startups and a global corporate parent, the power of patience in CVC, and why he believes nuclear fusion will be the defining energy source of the future.
Go to eu.vc for our core learnings and the full video interview 👀
Since founding TDK Ventures in 2019, Nicolas has built one of the market's most disciplined and entrepreneur-friendly CVCs, backing startups in sustainability, mobility, and advanced materials. Under his leadership, the firm has pioneered a unique "Diverse Advocate" investment process, ensuring rigorous due diligence and a first-principles approach to deep tech investing. In this conversation, Nicolas shares how TDK Ventures bridges the gap between startups and a global corporate parent, the power of patience in CVC, and why he believes nuclear fusion will be the defining energy source of the future.
Go to eu.vc for our core learnings and the full video interview 👀