Sven Harmsen

Director of External Ventures, NOVA by Saint-Gobain · 1 appearance on the record.

computed by AI from the episodes · how this works → · full disclaimer →

investorexecutivescientistoperatorLinkedIn ↗nova-saint-gobain.com ↗

Sven Harmsen is the Director of External Ventures and Head of North America at NOVA by Saint-Gobain, where he leads corporate venture investments in materials and sustainability. He previously served as Investment Director at M Ventures and holds a Ph.D. in chemistry.

10statements → 2claims → 1claims resolved → 3.7/5average certainty → 1.7/5average debate potential → ≈4.5/5argument clarity, estimated →

0 supported 1 partly supported 0 contradicted 1 not checkable as stated how the 2 claims stand · each chip opens the sources

2 assertions · 5 insights · 3 disclosures · every statement was checked. The predictions and assertions are the 2 claims: statements the public record can support or contradict. 1 is resolved, and 1 names no date, number or outcome precise enough to check. Everything else (opinions, insights, what ifs, disclosures) can never be settled by the record, so it carries no assessment.

The record, in short

What the tape says about how Sven argues and how the claims held up. Everything they said, and everything said about them, is in the tabs below.

How they sound: not measured why? →

We measure speaking style by listening to the audio itself, and a fair number needs at least 2,000 words from one person on tape we have measured. There is too little of Sven Harmsen on measured tape to publish a rate. This says nothing about how they speak.

What they said10 Episodes1

Everything Sven Harmsen said on Innovators & Investors that made the record, most notable first. Filter by type, assessment or year in the ledger →

Insight

Harmsen: Husband-and-wife founding teams rarely succeed compared to diverse teams

“If you have like a family startup where husband and wife start a company that can work and we have an example for that, but it's rare. So it's usually more that you have a group of people with different backgrounds.”

Sven Harmsen Aug 4, 2025 ▶ 15:13 Bridging Innovation and Industry: Inside Corporate Venture Investing in Materials and Hard Tech

Insight

Harmsen: Failed founders are sometimes better to back than billion-dollar winners

“And actually sometimes it's better. Somebody is there who Made the experience and was not successful because he knows exactly what he doesn't have to do again, rather than people who say, oh yeah, my startup was successful. I sold it for a billion because some…”

Sven Harmsen Aug 4, 2025 ▶ 15:52 Bridging Innovation and Industry: Inside Corporate Venture Investing in Materials and Hard Tech

Insight

Harmsen: Startups must use contract manufacturers before building facilities

“Contract manufacturer when it comes to their first pilot manufacturing batches because you cannot build your own manufacturing facility if you don't even have a viable product.”

Sven Harmsen Aug 4, 2025 ▶ 17:49 Bridging Innovation and Industry: Inside Corporate Venture Investing in Materials and Hard Tech

Insight

Harmsen: Startups Typically Need Three More Funding Rounds Than Founders Expect

“The typical thing is that the startup feels like, oh, this is our last round. Usually they need another three rounds. If not more and there, they need a lot of support.”

Sven Harmsen Aug 4, 2025 ▶ 22:36 Bridging Innovation and Industry: Inside Corporate Venture Investing in Materials and Hard Tech

Assertion Not checkable as stated

Harmsen: Drying Grant Funding Creates Opportunities for Equity Investors

“Currently, we don't see that many grants. This is drying out. Again, this is an opportunity for investors. So the companies need more dilutive money because there's not so much non-dilutive money in the market, and that is a great opportunity for investors.”

Sven Harmsen Aug 4, 2025 ▶ 24:10 Bridging Innovation and Industry: Inside Corporate Venture Investing in Materials and Hard Tech

Disclosure

Harmsen: Nova Requires an Internal Saint-Gobain Sponsor for Every Investment

“We invest typically very early. Seed, Series A is a sweet spot. We have flexibility. The key Measure for us is that we are a very strategic investor, so we always need to find a fit with the parent company. Always need to find somebody serving as a sponsor or …”

Sven Harmsen Aug 4, 2025 ▶ 3:51 Bridging Innovation and Industry: Inside Corporate Venture Investing in Materials and Hard Tech

Assertion Partly supported

Harmsen: Materials startups rely more on debt than digital companies

“They work more with loans. They work with venture debt more than I think digital companies do.”

Sven Harmsen Aug 4, 2025 ▶ 17:35 Bridging Innovation and Industry: Inside Corporate Venture Investing in Materials and Hard Tech

Insight

Harmsen: Bulk materials demand local manufacturing, unlike high-value goods

“If you have something of super high value, like in pharmaceuticals where you need only a few milligrams for one pill that you sell and in contrast, we sell a bag of mortar. I mean, the bag of mortar you want to manufacture close to your customer, or gypsum dry…”

Sven Harmsen Aug 4, 2025 ▶ 26:43 Bridging Innovation and Industry: Inside Corporate Venture Investing in Materials and Hard Tech

Disclosure

Harmsen: Nova by Saint-Gobain Holds Around 60 Startup Investments

“Nova actually is the corporate venture arm. We were founded in 2006, so quite a while ago. We suffered a little bit from the financial crisis in 2008, 2009. After studying with some investments we pivoted into a technology scouting unit. For some time, we actu…”

Sven Harmsen Aug 4, 2025 ▶ 3:10 Bridging Innovation and Industry: Inside Corporate Venture Investing in Materials and Hard Tech

Disclosure

Harmsen: Nova Always Demands Board Representation in Portfolio Companies

“I mean, we always ask for board representation. It doesn't have to be the board director seat. That depends on the level of our investments.”

Sven Harmsen Aug 4, 2025 ▶ 21:46 Bridging Innovation and Industry: Inside Corporate Venture Investing in Materials and Hard Tech

Appearances (1)

Episode	Date	Speaking time
Bridging Innovation and Industry: Inside Corporate Venture Investing in Materials and Hard	Aug 4, 2025	20m

Sven Harmsen

The record, in short

How they sound: not measured why? →

Appearances (1)

Turn any episode into a week of clips.