News & Highlights

  • December 2023
  • Cold Call Podcast

Sweden’s Northvolt Quest to Build the World’s Greenest EV Batteries

In this Climate Rising episode, host Brian Kenny engages with Professor George Serafeim in a discussion about Northvolt, a pioneering startup in Sweden dedicated to producing batteries for Europe’s electric vehicle (EV) manufacturers. The case study, “Northvolt: Building Batteries to Fight Climate Change,” sheds light on the company’s journey in building key government partnerships, hiring the right team, and attracting essential financing to scale up rapidly. Don’t miss this insightful exploration of a company at the forefront of combating climate change through innovative technology.
  • December 2023
  • Cold Call Podcast

Can Sustainability Drive Innovation at Ferrari?

Celebrating the 200th episode of Cold Call, Professor Raffaella Sadun and Ferrari CEO Benedetto Vigna engaged with a remote audience in the Live Online Classroom to explore the Harvard Business School case study “Ferrari: Shifting to Carbon Neutrality,” supported by Elena Corsi from the Europe Research Center. This episode spotlighted Ferrari’s journey towards carbon neutrality and electrifying its fleet, a move welcomed by investors and staff but met with apprehension by suppliers worried about financial impacts. This engaging session delves into Ferrari’s collaborative efforts with suppliers to achieve environmental goals, making it a must-see for enthusiasts of sustainable business and automotive innovation.
  • December 2023
  • Newsroom

Inside HBS’s Global Initiative Staff Summit

This article gives a sneak peek into the biennial gathering of HBS global staff on campus, a week dedicated to fostering camaraderie, professional development, and deep immersion in the rich HBS culture. Dive into the perspectives shared by Elena Corsi from the Europe Research Center on this unique experience.

New Research on the Region

  • March 2024
  • Case

Funderbeam: Teaming Up or Going Alone?

By: Paul A. Gompers, Elena Corsi and Orna Dan

Estonian funding and trading platform Funderbeam debates whether to accept a merger offer from an Irish company or remain independent and seek alternate funding.

  • February 2024
  • Case

AGENTS.inc: Pathways to Growth at an AI Startup

By: Frank Nagle, Manuel Hoffmann, Karoline Ströhlein and Susan Pinckney

The case describes the history of AGENTS.inc. Despite being a small startup, with only four employees, that had never had a funding round, the company boasted an impressive client portfolio including multiple Fortune 500 companies. While AGENTS.inc had been an early mover in the AI agent space, the company faced increased and well-funded competition in 2024. The founders needed to raise a seed funding round, to decide if they should continue their B2B model or change to focus on creating a digital agent store, and if they should release their software to open source. If they did so, they needed to decide what to make open source and what to retain as proprietary.

  • January 2024
  • Case

Frank Cornelissen: The Great Sulfite Debate (A)

By: Tiona Zuzul and Susan Pinckney

In 2018, artisanal Italian vineyard Frank Cornelissen was one of the world’s leading natural wine vineyards. Its founder, Frank Cornelissen, faced weather related conditions that forced him to have to decide between staying true to the tenets of the natural wine community or breaking with his public beliefs to save that year’s wines.

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Paris Staff

Vincent Dessain
Executive Director
Filomena Berreby
Office Coordinator
Daniela Beyersdorfer
Senior Associate Director, Research and Administration
Emilie Billaud
Assistant Director
Elena Corsi
Associate Director
Lena Duchene
Research Assistant
Hugo Etchegoyhen
Research Assistant
Nikolina Jonsson
Research Assistant
Tonia Labruyere
Senior Researcher
Emer Moloney
Senior Researcher
Carlota Moniz
Research Assistant
Jan Pianca
Associate Director, Educational Programs