Corporates that Innovate & Venture Build in the Wild – Conversation with Belina Lee

April 18, 2023

In the seventh episode of the Future Ventures podcast, Sheetal Khullar engages in conversation with Belina Lee who is the CEO, Mandai Global and Deputy CEO Mandai Wildlife Group  

The two discuss venture building, corporate innovation and entrepreneurship.  

Key highlights of the discussion

Belina, a self-proclaimed career generalist, shares her views on fostering innovation among individuals and companies. She emphasizes the importance of sustaining the desire for innovation and integrating it within corporate strategy. Belina then elaborates on some of the key Innovation led objectives Mandai has set for themselves and the interplay of innovation with the corporate venture building. 

The conversation then moves to addressing the key challenges toward establishing venture building as a key lever for growth in a corporate setting. Here they explore the role of technology and of the Mothership, towards supporting the different forms of innovation and leveraging on the opportunities that enhance customer experiences and transform the planet. 

The discussion places significant emphasis on technology for venture building and Belina advises us on some of the steps corporates must take to structure the right venture/innovation boards and governance that could facilitate a more nurturing approach towards the venture. 

Belina and Sheetal also discuss some of the biggest enablers of corporate venture building. The conversation particularly focuses on forward-thinking corporations using venture building to accelerate innovation.  

Different types of innovation are examined, but Belina believes that the fundamental purpose of innovation is to improve the lives of people and the environment. Therefore, she asserts that everyone can be an innovator and changemaker. Belina cites examples of how her company has successfully fostered innovation using their unique approach. Her experiences and insights provide inspiration for both companies and individuals seeking to build scalable & transformative ventures that the world needs .

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About the speaker(s)

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Belina Lee

Economist by training, philosopher at heart, change agent by calling.  
 
Belina has had the privilege of building and leading high performing and award winning teams to drive consumer-centric business innovation over 20 years at Fortune’s World’s Most Admired Top 50 companies in fintech, lifestyle services, and travel.  
 
A strategic generalist, her breadth of experience cuts across domains such as digital, consumer experience, product innovation, integrated marketing, revenue management, service operations & delivery and strategy. With unique insights and the ability to connect the dots, she uncovers blue oceans to deliver strong business outcomes.  
 
A mid-life epiphany has strengthened her commitment to be a leader who achieves the triple bottom line goals of Planet, People and Performance.  
 
She has a passion for serving her country while preserving planet earth for future generations, through the development of Singapore’s world-leading integrated wildlife precinct. Driving transformation from a physical destination into a globally impactful and relevant everyday conservation and sustainability brand

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Sheetal Khullar

Sheetal is the Growth Lead and Sustainability Expert at FutureLabs Ventures  

She leads the sustainability practice dedicated to building scalable and transformative climate tech ventures.  

She has more than a decade of leadership experience in developing sustainability solutions for businesses in the food tech, renewables, e-commerce, and consumer goods sectors and her expertise lies in Decarbonization Solutions, Sustainable Business Models, and Energy & Carbon Markets.