Skip to main content
Contact Us

Welcome To

VFI Logo_Text

Helping the world's best enterprise organizations commercialize innovation to ignite change.

Applications Now Open for Second Annual Midwest Dairy Accelerator, Seeking Next Generation of Dairy Innovation

Midwest Dairy, in partnership with VentureFuel, has announced the launch of their second annual Accelerator — a program designed to discover and support emerging startups that are redefining the future of dairy.
Midwest Dairy 2026 Applications Open Announcement

Introducing Techbyte Tuesday by Comcast NBCUniversal LIFT Labs

A new weekly video series capturing real conversations about AI from leaders and builders across the Comcast ecosystem. They spotlight the founders, operators, and enterprise teams shaping what’s next and explore the tools, strategies, and partnerships driving meaningful impact.
Visionary of the Year

We are thrilled to announce the finalists for Visionary of the Year!

 
Nominated and voted on by their peers, the VentureFuel Visionary of the Year recognizes the individuals and organizations blazing new paths to power the future. Vote today!

Find out how the world's most innovative brands are setting AI investment priorities for ecommerce. 

Hear from our Founder & CEO, Fred Schonenberg, as he sits down with Dan DeMeyere, Chief Product & Technology Officer at ThredUp, at Shoptalk this week. 

From improving product discovery to boosting conversion to automating merchandising, this critical session zeroes in on the parts of digital commerce funnel and tech stack where AI is having the biggest impact.
Fred at Shoptalk 2026
Fred Schonenberg at GCVI

Discover how leading enterprises are scaling CVC into real growth!

Join our Founder & CEO, Fred Schonenberg, in conversation with Anish Patel, CIO & COO at Yamaha Motor Ventures, at Global Corporate Venturing Innovation (GCVI) Summit 2026.

Don’t miss their insights in the Spotlight Session, “Doubling down on CVC: Understanding Yamaha's integrated corporate growth strategy.”

Pass the Baton: Design Innovation to Scale

Stop piloting. Start scaling. Most innovations don’t fail in pilot; they fail in the handoff. If you’re not designing for scale from day one, you’re designing for failure.
pass the baton

VentureFuel Visionaries

 

Visionaries possess remarkable foresight and creativity, transforming ideas into reality. Our podcast features guests from executives to innovators, discussing their roles in shaping the future and driving change in business and society.

Collaborate to Innovate: Author Adèle Yaroulina
COLLABORATE TO INNOVATE

Author Adèle Yaroulina

In this episode, Adèle and Fred unpack what it really takes for large organizations to turn startup partnerships into scalable growth engines. They also challenge the myth that startup collaboration “isn’t worth the squeeze,” arguing instead that the real risk is chasing trends, FOMO-driven pilots, and innovation theater that never moves the business forward.

Why Large Enterprises Need to Make Bets Now With Mark Treiber
WHY LARGE ENTERPRISES NEED TO MAKE BETS NOW

Innovation Leader Mark Treiber

In this episode, he breaks down how corporates can stay ahead of platform shifts — from mobile and OTT to the creator economy and AI — and why the biggest mistake companies make is not making enough bets. From his experience at Nokia and CBS Sports to Paris Hilton’s 11:11 Media, Mark also unpacks the collision of sports, media, culture, and technology and how leaders can turn emerging platforms into real business value.

Building Enterprise AI With Startup Velocity—Microsoft’s Taylor Black
BUILDING ENTERPRISE AI WITH STARTUP VELOCITY

Microsoft's Taylor Black

In this episode, we unpack how AI takes impossible problems and makes them merely difficult, how this growth mindset of hyper-abundance is paired with the enterprise rigor and the internal velocity needed to scale. 

SOLVING CORPORATE CHALLENGES VIA STARTUP COLLABORATIONS

HELPING OUR CLIENTS IGNITE CHANGE

AARP Foundation
California Milk Advisory Board Real California Milk
DICK'S Sporting Goods
Coca Cola
VF Corp
AB InBev
Comcast NBCUniversal
Beam Suntory
Winnebago Industries
1800 Flowers
Biogen
The Hershey Company
Blue Diamond Growers

Future-proof for tomorrow. Show results today.

We help our clients address their biggest strategic challenges more quickly, with less risk and greater impact than traditional innovation models by partnering with the best enterprise-ready startups today!

LEARN MORE

Global Innovation Network

A worldwide network of VCs, Seed Investors, Accelerators, University Labs and Scouts grant us unparalleled, advanced access to novel solutions.

Our team of unbiased corporate strategists build custom programs designed to achieve your goals with vetted partners who can deliver results.

JOIN OUR VC NETWORK

Win-Win Results. 100+ innovation programs resulting in over $12M in revenue for startups now collectively valued at over $2B.

In The Press

Our programs have been featured in:

In The Press_Logo_TechCrunch-1 forbes Bloomberg In The Press_Logo_Crunchbase-1

PRESS COVERAGE

Client Programs

We’ve been privileged to grow with a game changing community of global corporate innovators throughout the years.

Here are a few programs that have been forged through our collaborations.

VentureFuel POV

Disrupt or be disrupted? At VentureFuel, we believe that there's got to be a better way.  Transformative change can best be achieved through collaboration. Check out our point of view on the future, the role of external innovation; and the opportunities for collaboration to drive growth.

VentureFuel Events

Our events unite leading investors, founders, and corporate innovators to discuss the transformation of business and society through product, service, and technological innovation. Click on a tile below to check out a past events.

Get our newsletter Disruption Insurance delivered straight to your inbox!