About Laurent
A voice shaped between startups, corporates, and the world we live in.
Laurent Kinet has spent over two decades navigating the space between startups and large organizations. As a B2B tech entrepreneur, he’s built companies and products grounded in real-world needs. As co-founder and Chairman of Novable, and previously its CEO for 7 years, he has helped corporates engage startups with clarity and purpose. He now advises corporate teams directly as an independent Corporate Venturing Advisor.
Laurent speaks and writes with the perspective of someone who has seen both sides, and the distance between them. His book, Corporate Venturing, a Framework, offers practical guidance on bridging that gap. He also explores how technology shapes power and society, far beyond business. His thinking is informed not only by boardrooms, but also by humanitarian work in Madagascar.
A serial B2B Tech Entrepreneur Building for Impact
Laurent is a serial B2B tech entrepreneur. Over the past two decades, he has launched and grown several startups in digital, data, AI, and corporate innovation. The most recent is Novable, an AI-powered innovation scouting platform that helps corporations identify, evaluate, and engage startups aligned with their strategy.
Through the years, Laurent has worked hands-on with large enterprises, helping them operationalise innovation without falling into “startup washing.” He knows what it takes to build tech products that serve real business needs, and to translate innovation into value for both sides of the table.
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Innovation isn’t neutral. It creates winners and losers. It builds futures, and sometimes erases others. For 20+ years, Laurent has worked at the intersection of entrepreneurship, corporate strategy, and societal change. He has seen how easily innovation becomes theatre, when it loses touch with impact, with reality, or with people.
That’s why he speaks up. To bring clarity to complexity. To connect corporate ambition with entrepreneurial truth. To remind us that innovation isn’t about noise, it’s about decisions, power, and responsibility.
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Writing: From Thinking to Publishing
Laurent writes to clarify, and sometimes to provoke. His book, Corporate Venturing, a Framework, offers a pragmatic guide for companies looking to engage with startups seriously, beyond pitch days and PowerPoint.
He also writes essays and delivers keynotes on:
The realities of open innovation
The geopolitics of technology
The lessons learned from the humanitarian field
You’ll find selected writings and excerpts below:
[BOOK] Corporate Venturing Framework – 100 Ways Startups Can Transform Your Organisation
Corporate-Startup Partnership: The Geostrategic Challenge of Europe
What added value does AI bring to innovation and startup scouting?
SMEs need to step up to the corporate innovation challenge (in FT’s Sifted)
Startup Scouting is the least innovative activity ever (time to fix that)
The world has a fundamental problem with corporate governance
Corporate Governance: the Mary Poppins syndrome (and the Belgian case)
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Independent Advisory
Laurent advises corporate innovation leaders and their teams on the decisions that matter most: which startups are worth engaging, which acquisitions make sense, and how to build a venturing model that outlasts any single initiative.
Over 20 years, he has worked with large enterprises across energy, FMCG, finance, luxury, and infrastructure on projects spanning innovation strategy, startup integration, venture clienting, and M&A readiness.
He operates independently, with no financial stake in any company he assesses.
Innovation Meets Humanity
Beyond business, I believe in applying strategy to where it matters most.
For over 12 years, I led medical and dental missions in Madagascar with the NGO Amalgache, helping coordinate cross-cultural, high-impact field operations with volunteer teams. I’m now working on a new project: Surgeons Without Borders, to extend medical innovation and care access where it’s most needed.
These experiences taught me more about leadership, resourcefulness, and human complexity than any boardroom ever could, and they continue to inform my approach to innovation today.
Let’s talk.
For any enquiry, please book a 30-minute chat.