Startups keep failing — not because the ideas are bad, but because the system around them is. Venture studios offer a better model: structured, co-created, and built for scale from the start.

In this post, we delve into what a venture studio truly is, its origins, and why it consistently outperforms traditional startup approaches. We explain how portfolio companies from leading studios reach Series A in half the time, and why success rates above 60% are increasingly the norm, compared to less than 30% in conventional venture building.

And finally, we share why Atlan is applying this model to build nature-aligned, deep-tech ventures designed for a regenerative future.

Why Startups Fail in a World Overflowing with Capital

Despite significant investment of money, talent, and effort in innovation, most startups still fail. We’ve come to accept this failure as normal, as if it were the cost of making progress.

But it’s not normal. It’s systemic.

Ask the average founder or investor what went wrong, and they rarely point to the idea itself. Instead, they cite issues such as team problems, poor execution, or premature scaling. We’re not failing because of innovation. We’re failing because of what surrounds it.

That’s why a new kind of model has emerged – not to support startups, but to build them systematically.

It’s called a venture studio.

Where Venture Studios Come From

The term “venture studio” didn’t exist when Idealab was founded in 1996. Back then, it was known as an incubator. But in hindsight, it was the first real studio: it created ideas internally, built them with in-house teams, and invested with long-term commitment. Idealab launched over 150 ventures, with more than 45 exits.

In the early 2000s, companies like Rocket Internet in Berlin and Betaworks in New York followed similar paths, often described as startup studios or startup factories. It wasn’t until around 2015 that the term “venture studio” began to be recognized as a distinct model, separate from incubators, accelerators, or venture capital (VC) funds.

Today, there are more than 1,100 active studios worldwide, and the best of them outperform traditional startups in both speed and survival.

But only a small number follow the true studio model.

A venture studio isn’t just a label. It’s a method — one that requires deep involvement, operational commitment, and alignment from day zero to exit. Studios that do the real work are changing how companies are built. Venture studios aren’t a trend. They’ve quietly reshaped the way startups come to life for nearly three decades.

What Is a Venture Studio?

A venture studio is not an incubator. Not an accelerator. Not a VC fund.

Also known as a startup studio or startup factory, it is a company that systematically creates other companies. Venture studios don’t wait for pitch decks. They generate ideas, identify real problems, validate solutions, assemble co-founding teams, and build the business from scratch.

…	…	…
…	…	…
…	…	…

 

They act as co-founders, operators, and early investors. As the venture grows, the studio transitions from builder to strategic partner, remaining involved until the company is ready for scale or exit.

A true venture studio combines all three roles:

• Founder – they develop the idea and create the company
• Operator – they build the product, team, business, and operations, hands-on
• Investor – they provide capital systematically and guide outcomes strategically

The term “venture studio” may sometimes get confused with “venture builder,” but they are not the same. A venture builder is a broader term encompassing corporate innovation teams, support programs, or hybrid models that help launch startups, but most do not adopt the full studio model.

In contrast, a venture studio is a high-commitment model that takes responsibility from day zero, combining all three roles in an end-to-end approach and maintaining significant control throughout the venture’s early stages.

Why Venture Studios Exist

Venture studios address systemic failures in early-stage startup development. They offer structured environments, experienced operators, and hands-on resources to:

1. Reduce risks
2. Improve success rates
3. Accelerate growth

Their approach is quality-first. Unlike traditional venture capital, which spreads bets across many startups hoping one or two become unicorns, studios build with depth and precision from day one.

Here’s how venture studios tackle what most startups struggle with:

Reduce Risks

Venture studios build companies from within, using proven playbooks, early validation, and repeatable processes. With each cycle, they refine their approach, making outcomes more predictable and resource use more efficient. This drastically reduces the risks involved, even before a new venture is officially created.

Capital is deployed systematically, tied to clear milestones. There’s no need for mid-stage fundraising. This structure enables faster pivots, smarter decisions, and better time-to-value.

Because studios retain control during the riskiest stages, they can pivot ventures that miss milestones or redirect intellectual property (IP) into stronger concepts, all without the delays of external investor rounds or sunk-cost bias. For stakeholders, this means a more efficient, lower-risk path to building high-quality, scalable companies.

Improve Success Rates

Venture studios significantly outperform traditional startup models in terms of outcomes. On average, studio-backed companies achieve a success rate of over 60%, compared to less than 30% in conventional VC-backed ventures.

Some studios report an internal rate of return (IRR) of 60%, compared to 33% for top-quartile traditional VC. These results reflect not just better selection, but better building, with aligned capital, structured support, and focused execution from day zero.

Accelerate Time to Market

Venture studios launch companies faster by design. With ready-to-deploy infrastructure, capital, expert teams, and established networks, they eliminate the leading causes behind dragging delays that typically slow early-stage startups.

On average, studio-backed ventures reach Series A in just 25 months, compared to 56 months for traditional startups — more than twice as fast.

Solve What Others Miss

From team building and funding to execution and scaling, venture studios fill the critical gaps that solo founders and early investors often struggle to address.

A venture studio is not a support system. It acts as a co-founder with structure, strategy, and staying power – built to turn strong ideas into resilient, scalable companies.

What Makes a Good Venture Studio?

Not all studios are created equal. Some focus on quick consumer launches, others on spinning out R&D projects. Some aim for speed. Others for resilience.

What matters is depth. Depth in development, execution, network, and long-term commitment. A strong studio doesn’t just validate ideas. It assembles everything around them to give them the best chance of succeeding.

And any professional studio must be focused on the kind of companies it builds and in which markets it operates. No one can build everything. The best studios are defined by what they choose to build and why – and how well their capital, talent, and model align with that purpose.

What Atlan Brings to the Table

Atlan is a venture studio.

We build deep-tech ventures that work with nature, not against it – companies that help the planet thrive alongside society.

Our ideas come from diverse sources: researchers, engineers, inventors, and internal development. What they share is depth – deep science and technical rigor applied to real-world problems, with nature as a key benefactor.

We focus on sectors where ecological urgency meets commercial opportunity, including biodiversity and circular production, as well as clean water and sustainable materials. Our model is built for ventures that require both scientific strength and strategic execution.

We bring:

• A holding company structure that aligns capital with long-term outcomes
• A hands-on operating arm that co-builds every venture from the ground up
• A selective ecosystem focused only on ventures with the potential to solve meaningful problems and scale responsibly

Every idea we pursue must be technically sound, focused on a validated need, and aligned with our mission to build a regenerative future.

Opportunity: Why Now, Why You

Venture studios are quickly becoming the model of choice for turning innovation into outcomes.

For investors, they offer aligned, lower-risk ventures built on stronger foundations.

For inventors and researchers, they offer more than commercialization – they offer co-creation.

For institutions, they are the missing link between research and real-world impact, with a much higher success rate than traditional pathways.

Studios don’t just help ideas grow. They help the right ideas lead.

What’s Next from Atlan

In the coming weeks, we’ll share more about how we co-build with inventors, how we reduce risk for investors, and how we work across ecosystems to tackle complex, meaningful challenges.

You can also find us at key events and meetings with stakeholders in research, policy, and capital sides, helping shape a shared understanding of what this model can do and where Atlan is headed.

If this resonates with you, follow along. And if you’re thinking of building something that matters, reach out.