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.
