CVC | E497 | Nicole LeBlanc on Corporate VC, Strategic Alignment & Value Creation at Scale

In this episode, Andreas Munk Holm and Jeppe Høier sit down with Nicole LeBlanc, Partner at Woven Capital, the $800M growth-stage CVC fund backed by Toyota. They unpack what it takes to drive real strategic and financial outcomes in corporate venture — and what founders and GPs often get wrong when working with CVCs.

Nicole shares how Woven structures its global operations, works hand-in-hand with Toyota’s business units, and leverages a portfolio success team to shepherd startups through complex corporate dynamics. She also breaks down Woven’s investment logic, from hydrogen to lunar rovers — and why corporate alignment shouldn’t come at the cost of independence.

Here’s what’s covered:

• 00:40 – The structure of Woven Capital & its relationship with Toyota
• 03:00 – How Toyota Ventures (early-stage) and Woven (growth-stage) complement each other
• 09:45 – Building internal bridges: the Portfolio Success team model
• 13:15 – Toyota’s internal incentives (and the carrot vs. stick approach)
• 15:10 – The CVC cultural challenge: Japan, US, and Europe
• 21:40 – How to spot a “red flag” CVC as a founder
• 31:30 – Toyota Open Labs: a new playbook for startup-corporate collaboration
• 34:00 – Woven’s LP strategy: investing in funds for access, insight & geography
• 39:00 – Learnings from fund investing: what CVC LPs need from GPs
• 42:00 – Final advice for startups and corporates alike