Claudia Zeisberger

Founder, GPEI and Senior Affiliate Professor of Entrepreneurship & Family Enterprise at INSEAD

Speaker

Claudia Zeisberger is a Senior Affiliate Professor of Entrepreneurship & Family Enterprise at INSEAD, and the Founder and Academic Co-Director of the school’s private equity & venture capital centre (GPEI). Through the centre’s work, INSEAD has established itself as the go-to source for insights on private capital in emerging markets and impact investing.

Professor Zeisberger advises corporations, institutional investors and governments on Private Capital portfolio construction and best practices, Corporate Venture Capital, Environmental Social and Governance (ESG), EdTech, Corporate Turnarounds, Risk Management, and the launch of Sovereign Wealth Funds. She is a Temasek Fellow and Visiting Professor at WMI in Singapore.

She has over 30 years of experience as a finance professional and as an expert with deep experience in risk management, private equity and venture capital, Corporate Venturing and Innovation. As a Professor at INSEAD, she is a global citizen and award-winning author as well as an angel investor. She is a member of KKR’s Sustainable Expert Advisory Committee (SEAC) and sits on the Advisory Boards of Standard Chartered Ventures, Linzor Capital, BG Ventures and KaizenVest. Passionate about the future of education, she acts as a volunteer board advisor to Girl Rising, a non-profit focused on girls' education and empowerment. She joined Google’s Startup Accelerator SEA as an industry mentor in 2019.

At INSEAD, Professor Zeisberger teaches courses on Private Equity & Venture Capital, Corporate Turnaround and Risk management in their MBA, EMBA and Executive Education programmes. She has won the “Best Teaching Award” and has been awarded the “Dean’s Commendation for Excellence in MBA Teaching” annually since 2008. In 2010, she launched INSEAD’s popular course “Managing Corporate Turnarounds,” which combines in-class case studies and visits from industry professionals with an intensive computer-based simulation involving an iconic car brand and its struggle with bankruptcy.

Joining Academia in 2005 after a 16-year career in investment banking & alternative investments allowed her to leverage her extensive network and combine her passion for education & innovation by connecting academia with industry. Claudia is one of the best-networked people in the Private Capital space with extensive experience in bringing her academic and professional background to inform boards. She is an expert on Responsible Investing and ESG strategy implementation and is often invited in the role of ‘Professional Devil’s Advocate’.

Her recent work has focused mainly on private capital in emerging markets & Corporate Venture Capital. She is the author of “Mastering Private Equity: Transformation via Venture Capital, Minority Investments and Buyouts” as well as the corresponding INSEAD case book 'Private Equity in Action – Case Studies from Developed & Emerging Markets'.