whataventure

What whataventure does

whataventure is a Vienna-based corporate venture building firm founded in 2013 that partners with large enterprises to systematically create new businesses. Its core service offerings include New Business Services (concept-to-market venture building), Corporate Venturing programs, Intrapreneurship programs, Scaling Services, and advisory on Structures for New Business (governance and operating models for corporate innovation). The firm operates on a primarily professional services and managed services revenue model, with custom quote-based engagements under multi-year Service Order Forms; it has additionally introduced a self-serve Innovation Platform with monthly subscription and lifetime-license tiers, extending reach to mid-market users.

The underlying technology consists of a proprietary venture building methodology and a software platform providing authorized clients access to venture building tools, project workspaces, and CRM functionality. The firm supplements its core consulting with an active portfolio of co-built venture sub-brands spanning sustainable real estate (Arcneo), modular wood construction (Wood_SPACE, with Rubner), logistics SaaS (Heylog, with Schmitz Cargobull/LKW Walter/ninepointfive), energy balancing automation (FlexPowerHub), industrial inspection via drones (Smart Inspection), and surface-fingerprinting for anti-counterfeiting (PixoAnalytics), among others.

The firm is privately held and led by co-Managing Partners Philippe Thiltges and Stefan Peintner, with a venture architect bench of 35+ hands-on entrepreneurs. Its geographic footprint is anchored in Austria (Vienna) and Italy (Bolzano via whataventure S.R.L), with named enterprise clients concentrated in the DACH region across construction, consumer goods, energy, industrial goods, mobility/logistics, and financial services. The firm generates thought-leadership demand through an annual research study on the state of new business building distributed to 7,000+ venture builder newsletter subscribers, and has facilitated €700M+ of investment into the projects it has launched.

Name

whataventure

Legal name

whataventure GmbH

Website

https://whataventure.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

2013

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

whataventure is a Vienna-based corporate venture builder that partners with large enterprises to systematically create new businesses, offering venture building, intrapreneurship, and corporate venturing programs alongside a self-serve innovation platform and an active portfolio of co-built ventures.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Corporate Venture Building Services

NAICS

Other Management Consulting Services (541618)

SIC

Services-Management Consulting Services (8742)

akta.pro primary industry

Organization Design & Operating Model Consulting (BPAHAGAB)

Keywords

• Corporate venture building
• Innovation consulting
• Intrpreneurship programs
• Venture architecture
• New business development

Headquarters

HQ city

Vienna

HQ country

Austria

HQ region

Europe

Offices2 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Technology or R&D, Marketing or Sales, Infrastructure

Revenue model

1. Consulting Services: Consulting engagements for corporate venture building, new business development, and innovation program execution.
2. Venture Building Programs: Ongoing venture building partnerships and program management for corporate innovation initiatives.
3. Innovation Platform Subscriptions: Platform access fees including lifetime licenses for project access within the innovation platform.
4. Intrapreneurship Programs: Intrapreneurship program design and execution for corporate clients.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion2 records

Distribution channels3 records

Marketing channels6 records

Core offering

whataventure is a corporate venture building firm that helps large organizations systematically build new businesses from concept to market launch. It offers hands-on consulting engagements across new business services, corporate venturing, intrapreneurship programs, scaling, and structures for new business, alongside a self-serve innovation platform that hosts its venture building tools and methodology.

Product overview

whataventure is a corporate venture building company that operates as a multi-service consultancy with an innovation platform component. The core offering includes New Business Services (building ventures from concept to market), Corporate Venturing programs, Intrapreneurship programs, Scaling Services, and Structures for New Business advisory. The company also maintains a portfolio of venture sub-brands it has built including Arcneo (sustainable residential projects), Go Primal (performance nutrition), Heylog (logistics SaaS), Pixofarm (AI agritech), Variand (modular furniture), Wood_SPACE (wood construction), FlexPowerHub (energy forecasting), Smart Inspection (drone inspection), TRAILAR (solar PV for trucks), PixoAnalytics (counterfeit detection), and Metaloop (B2B scrap marketplace). The company publishes annual research studies on venture building trends.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• New Business Services Hands-on venture building services to systematically build new business from concept to market launch, including validation, MVP development, and scaling support, for corporate clients.
• Corporate Venturing Corporate venture building programs that help established organizations create and manage venture arms and new business units.
• Intrapreneurship Programs Programs that enable corporate employees to develop validated projects with real impact, supporting innovation from within existing organizations.
• Scaling Services Services focused on growing and expanding established ventures, helping organizations scale successful new business initiatives.
• Structures for New Business Advisory services for setting up appropriate corporate structures, governance models, and operating frameworks for new business building.
• Innovation Platform (WAV) A software platform providing access to whataventure's venture building services, project management tools, and shared resources including CRM tools for authorized users and clients.

Quantifiable outcome

• €700M+ investment in projects launched
• +3 more outcomes

Named customers14 records

Segments4 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed Yes

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Integration4 records

AI capability7 records

Feature2 records

Partnerships

Nine partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.

• Rubner HolzbaucoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerJoint venture partner for Wood_Space, an innovative wooden construction company leveraging mass-produced wooden modules. Wood_Space creates sustainable modular buildings made of solid wood with prefabricated modules delivered and assembled on-site.
• Schmitz CargobullcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerJoint venture partner for Heylog, a SaaS platform that digitalizes and professionalizes driver communication workflows in logistics. Partnership includes LKW Walter and ninepointfive.
• LKW WaltercoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerJoint venture partner for Heylog SaaS logistics communication platform alongside Schmitz Cargobull and ninepointfive.
• ninepointfivecoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerJoint venture partner for Heylog, contributing to the logistics communication SaaS platform.
• UPLminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerJoint venture partner for Pixofarm, an AI-powered machine vision agritech solution for fruit harvest optimization. Note: Joint venture closed in 2023 due to shift in strategic direction.
• DPDHL Startup LabcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerPartner for PixoAnalytics spin-off, a machine vision technology creating unique fingerprints of inhomogeneous surfaces for supply chain efficiency and counterfeit detection.
• Wien EnergiecoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerStrategic partner for PixoAnalytics counterfeiting protection technology and other energy-related innovation initiatives.
• VERBUND X AcceleratorcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerStrategic partner with voestalpine in the VERBUND X accelerator program for future-proofing steel production through startup collaborations.
• Venture Connect (CERN)minorGTM or Marketing PartnerPartnership for venture ecosystem connection and knowledge sharing in the innovation community.

Scale indicators5 records

Recent moves1 record

Expansion highlights5 records

Direct peers

• Founders Factory: London-based corporate venture studio that builds and scales ventures with enterprise partners across sectors. Directly comparable to whataventure in offering hands-on venture building for corporate clients, though with a UK/global footprint versus whataventure's DACH focus.
• Anthemis: Digital financial services venture builder and investor that partners with incumbents to build, invest in, and scale new ventures. Comparable to whataventure in the venture-building-for-corporates model, though narrowly focused on financial services rather than multi-vertical.
• Antler: Global early-stage VC and venture builder that supports founders from idea through Series A with cohort programs and dedicated operators. Comparable to whataventure in hands-on venture creation methodology and skin-in-the-game approach, though focused on early-stage founders rather than corporate spin-outs.
• Highline (now part of Rocket Internet): European corporate venture builder that designs and operates new digital businesses with corporate partners. Highly comparable business model to whataventure — venture creation services for enterprise clients — though broader geographic coverage.
• Innosight: Strategy and innovation consulting firm founded by Clayton Christensen that helps enterprises build new growth businesses. Closely comparable to whataventure's strategy, structures, and new-business-building services, though US-headquartered and consulting-led rather than venture-incubator-led.
• Strategyzer: Swiss-based platform and methodology provider for business model innovation, used by enterprises to systematically test and launch new ventures. Comparable to whataventure in methodology-driven new business building and adjacent on the software/platform layer.

Broad incumbents

• Rocket Internet: Berlin-headquartered venture builder and incubator operating globally with a much larger portfolio and capital base. Comparable to whataventure in venture-building DNA, but operates at significantly greater scale and across geographies as a public/former-public platform.
• BCG X: The corporate venture building and innovation arm of Boston Consulting Group, partnering with enterprises to build, invest in, and scale new businesses. Directly comparable to whataventure's mandate but as part of a much larger global consulting firm.

Emerging players

• Brightidea: Innovation management software platform used by enterprises to capture, evaluate, and launch employee-driven ideas and intrapreneurship programs. Overlaps with whataventure's innovation platform and intrapreneurship service line, but software-only rather than full-service venture building.
• Qmarkets: Enterprise innovation management software provider offering idea management, open innovation, and intrapreneurship modules. Adjacent to whataventure's self-serve innovation platform, but software-only and does not deliver venture-building services.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/what-a-venture

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles9 records

Subsidiaries3 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments3 records

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about whataventure