The company was founded in 1921 in Murano by Paolo Venini (1895-1959), a lawyer from a glass making family; Andrea Rioda (1878-1921), a Venetian glass factory owner; and Giacomo Cappellin, an antique Venetian glass dealer. It was incorporated in 1924 as Vetri Soffiati Muranesi Venini Cappellin & C., and hired the most creative and talented artists and designers including Muranese painter Vittorio Zecchin, as art director, the sculptor Napoleone Martinuzzi and the architect Carlo Scarpa (1906-1978)
Carlo Scarpa was artistic director from 1934 to 1947 introducing new decorative techiniques that became the trade mark of Venini. These included sommerso technique, corroso glass, battuto glass, mezza filigrana glass, tessuto glass and lattimo glass.
New techniques and designs were introduced also by Fulvio Bianconi and and Gio Ponti who had a long collaboration with Venini.
Paolo Venini himself collaborated with Fulvio Bianconi on the Handkerchief vase. The company is noted for the revival of filigree techniques and innovative use of canes and murrine. When Venini died in 1959, Ludovico Diaz de Santillana (1931-1989) married Venini’s daughter Anna and became head of the company in addition to designing.
The tradition of collaboration with artist-designers continue and also Tobia Scarpa, son of Carlo Scarpa, worked with the company developing Occhi vases (occhi = eyes, for the little clear glass 'eyes' in opaque colored glass)
Though the Venini family no longer owns the company, it is active today and is considered to be one of the most important Murano glassworks.