Venture Leaders Cleantech 2024: Captain's blog by Markus Aicheler, CEO of SolidWatts

18.11.2024 11:30, Rita Longobardi

Markus Aicheler, co-founder and CEO of SolidWatts led ten Cleantech startups during their week-long roadshow in Munich from November 4 to November 8, 2024. He blogs on how the Venture Leaders Cleantech program helped these ambitious entrepreneurs make the personal, high-level connections with potential partners and investors, to start scaling their startups.

Monday
After an early departure from Geneva and a pleasant train ride with Max from Dyneo, we arrived at Zurich’s train station to meet an enthusiastic, welcoming team. Despite delays on the trip to Munich and limited time at the hotel before the evening event organized by the Swiss Consulate, the team’s spirits remained high. We took the chance to catch up on some work in a nearby beer hall, followed by another enjoyable train ride filled with productive discussions and further bonding. The event itself saw our team don Swiss-colored jerseys, joining over 80 leaders from industry, politics, and investment, including Swiss Consul General Eros Robbiani. The evening’s highlight was our 90-second pitches and Q&A session, which the team handled well, before continuing with discussions at the Ratskeller.



Tuesday
After an early morning walk, we visited the very interesting Munich Urban Colab where our hosts from UVC were showing us the impressive facilities and coworking spaces. A must-visit for innovation drivers and visionaries. This was followed by the first of many pitching sessions this week where every start-up representative got 5 minutes to pitch with slides followed by 5 minutes of Q&A. We had some very nice discussions with the UVC team after the pitches and during lunch. Thanks again to UVC for this opportunity. The afternoon at the Helbling offices provided valuable insights into how Helbling supports startups at various stages of technical development. Special thanks to David Stadler for sharing these perspectives.



This was followed by a pitching session with the extremely well-prepared team of VC Occident Group. The format followed the morning session with the particularity that we all saw each other's pitches for the very first time. This opened up great opportunities to give mutual feedback and help each other to improve some aspects of the respective pitches. After some excellent and fruitful discussions, Occident led by Simon Schild von Spannenberg invited us for an excellent dinner at the Schneider Weisse beerhall. Thanks to Simon and the team of Occident who enjoyed the evening together with us.



Wednesday
The next pitching event at BayWa r.e. Energy Ventures was logistically interesting, with Joao guiding us through Munich's subway system. The session went well, followed by a lively Italian lunch. The Earlybird session featured a unique 10-minute walking pitch in a Munich park, which was both engaging and refreshing. In the evening, the team and partners gathered at the Augustiner Beerhall to enjoy Bavarian food and drinks.

Thursday 
Evenings getting later and mornings earlier made the 30-minute walk to Matterwave Ventures a welcome exercise. The team, led by Robert Gallenberger, greeted us with coffee and breakfast. We had a productive pitching session with great questions. After lunch at the hotel and a quick shawarma stop, we headed to World Fund for the final pitch session. By then, the pitches had evolved thanks to practice and feedback. World Fund, led by Mark Windeknecht, asked insightful questions, marking a strong end to the sessions. The evening wrapped up with a visit to Paulaner Beerhouse and a team dinner.



Friday
Friday morning was reserved for individual 1-on-1 follow-up meetings with the investors from the previous events. Some very interesting conversations were scheduled and the team harvested great interest and feedback. However, the time came to break down the tents and after a debrief by Jordi and a quick feedback session we progressed to the train station where the long train ride back home awaited us. A long week came to a glorious end.

It has indeed been a fantastic week. This year's team consisted of A-grade team players and outstanding entrepreneurs. I am very grateful, honoured and humbled to have had the privilege to lead this team. A big shout-out to the event partners and sponsors for making such a great opportunity possible. And of course, last but certainly not least a huge thanks to Jordi, Joao, and Calimna. You have enabled, guided, organised and illuminated this week. From the bottom of my heart: THANK YOU for this great experience!

                 

THE TEN CLEANTECH STARTUPS: