Siemens Energy Ventures and the startup playbook for the energy transition

In April 2022 Siemens Energy Ventures joined the European Innovation Council for an EIC Corporate Day. The event matched 15 EIC-backed beneficiaries with Siemens Energy for pitching and early-stage collaboration. The conversation that follows distills what Siemens Energy Ventures is trying to do inside a global energy technology company, how it approaches open innovation, the kinds of startups and deals it prefers, and some of the practical frictions corporate-startup partnerships must resolve.

Who we spoke to

The interview features two senior members of Siemens Energy Ventures. Kendra Rauschenberger leads the Ventures team and oversees their three-pronged model of building, clienting, and investing in startups. Illai Gescheit is a partner focused on ecosystem-building, venture operating model design, founder mentoring, and internal alignment across Siemens Energy. Both frame their work as mission-driven efforts to accelerate decarbonisation and drive new businesses.

How Siemens Energy defines innovation

Both interlocutors emphasise that innovation at Siemens Energy is broader than technology discovery. It includes new business models, operating models, and funding mechanisms. They argue that success depends less on the quantity of ideas and more on resilient teams that can execute, iterate with customers, and scale. That places founder quality and customer focus at the centre of Siemens Energy’s screening criteria.

Practical challenges in corporate-startup collaboration

Siemens Energy candidly describes two recurring frictions. First, managing core legacy businesses while creating new ones requires trade-offs in attention, budget, and governance. Second, corporate cadence often clashes with the faster, iterative pace of startups. The Ventures team has responded by rewriting parts of its operating model and adapting how it engages with founders, but the underlying complexity remains a common constraint across similar corporate venturing units.

Why partner with the European Innovation Council

Siemens Energy Ventures framed the partnership with the EIC as strategic for three reasons. The EIC curates early-stage, disruptive European technologies. The EIC brings structured formats such as Corporate Days that enable direct engagement with founders. And the EIC’s network and support mechanisms like mentoring and funding align with Siemens Energy’s objective of supporting European climate technology ecosystems.

What Siemens Energy looks for in startups

The Ventures team evaluates startups on strategic fit and the mutual value exchange. Key attributes are clarity on how a product accelerates the energy transition, willingness to listen and adapt, culture fit, and readiness to use Siemens Energy as a customer or partner to scale. The team emphasises resilience and mission alignment alongside technical capability.

Types of partnerships Siemens Energy pursues

Work with startups can take different forms under the 3V model. Venture Building is used when Siemens Energy sees a market gap that calls for co-creation. Venture Clienting lets the company pilot solutions and become an early customer. Venture Capital involves strategic minority investments to access new technologies or markets. Pilots and clienting roles are also used to validate cultural and product fit before considering acquisitions.

Concrete venture examples

Investment themes and technology focus

Siemens Energy Ventures describes five priority themes that guide investment and venture building. They reflect the need for reliable, low-carbon energy 24/7, resilient grids, product circularity and industrial decarbonisation, condition-based services enabled by digital twins, and decarbonised heat processes.

How Siemens Energy evaluates co-investments

When assessing investments, the team looks for startups that are already in market or close to customer traction, have institutional investors on board, operate in B2B contexts where Siemens Energy can add value, demonstrate measurable carbon reductions, and have a data-driven proposition. The emphasis is on strategic, not purely financial, returns.

Practical advice to founders who want to work with Siemens Energy

Kendra and Illai gave direct guidance for founders. Be concise about what you are building and what you need. Explain how Siemens Energy can add value and how the relationship would work. Be open about collaboration preferences and patient about corporate processes. Above all, show strategic fit and be specific about the problem you solve in the energy transition.

Context and implications for the European innovation ecosystem

Siemens Energy Ventures illustrates how a large industrial corporate tries to be a constructive participant in the European climate tech ecosystem. Partnerships with the EIC and with venture capital actors help channel dealflow and resources to early-stage teams. The corporate’s access to manufacturing, R&D and customers can speed commercialization. However, there are structural tensions. Corporates move more slowly, governance is more complex, and claims of climate impact need independent measurement and transparency to avoid greenwashing.

Takeaways

Siemens Energy Ventures is a deliberately hybrid unit that builds, pilots and invests to accelerate decarbonisation while seeking business returns. Its priorities favour teams with clear customer traction, the ability to measure carbon impact, and a willingness to iterate in partnership with a large industrial partner. The EIC partnership provides curated European dealflow and structured engagement formats, but founders should remain pragmatic about the operational and cultural frictions that accompany corporate collaboration.

For founders, the practical advice is simple. Be concise about value and needs, demonstrate measurable impact and data capability, be ready to pilot and iterate with early customers, and assess whether the corporate partner can realistically help you scale at the pace you need.