Venture Leaders Cleantech 2025: Captains Blog by Estelle Clerc and Murielle Schreck

27.11.2025 13:25, Rita Longobardi

Estelle Clerc, CEO and co-founder of CellX Biosolutions, and Murielle Schreck, CEO and co-founder of qCella, led nine Cleantech startups during their week-long roadshow in Munich from November 17-21, 2025. They blog on how the Venture Leaders Cleantech program helped these ambitious entrepreneurs make personal, high-level connections with potential partners and investors, to start scaling their startups.

The Venture Leaders Cleantech program started a few weeks before the actual roadshow when we all met in Lausanne for a full-day kick-off event. The investor and business development roadshow took place from November 17-21, 2025 in Munich.

Monday
The Venture Leaders Cleantech roadshow kicked off in Munich with the satisfying surprise that our DB train was only 25 minutes late - practically a record and certainly worth celebrating. After settling in, we enjoyed our first lunch sponsored by Helbling Technik before heading straight into action. Clipperton hosted the opening evening, where each of us delivered a sharp 90-second pitch. Conversations flowed, nerves settled, and by the time the catered dinner arrived, the team spirit was already in full swing.



Tuesday
A full day awaited us under clear Munich sunshine. We made our way to Munich Urban Colab for an energizing pitch session with UVC Partners. Their questions were pointed, constructive, and exactly what we needed to sharpen our stories. The afternoon brought us to Helbling Technik, where a workshop on industrialization came with both panoramic views and alarming quantities of chocolate. Refueled and slightly sugared-up, OCCIDENT joined us for another lively pitch and Q&A round. The day ended over dinner at “Schneider Weisse”, where beer, Bavarian classics, and conversations with Simon and Paul from OCCIDENT kept us going well past any reasonable bedtime. Our step count was already climbing, matching the tempo of the week.

Wednesday
The third morning began with croissants and a pitch session at SEF Ventures. Bruno’s 1-to-1 discussions were among the most insightful of the week. This was immediately balanced by a session at GET Fund, where warm coffee, pretzels, and a very engaged team kept the energy high. For the first time all week, the afternoon was ours to catch up on work – which in reality meant answering emails at high speed while comparing notes from previous pitches. We wrapped the day with a relaxed Italian dinner, excellent wine, and the kind of conversations that only happen when a group has already spent several days walking twelve kilometers a day together.



Thursday
Winter arrived just in time for our visit to Matterwave Ventures, greeting us with the first snowflakes of the season. The atmosphere inside, however, was anything but cold. Their team welcomed us with gingerbread cookies and a great discussion on scaling deep-tech solutions. After that, we headed to World Fund, whose sharp questions reminded us why they are one of Europe’s leading climate-focused investors. Evening brought a highlight of the week: a tour of the Paulaner Brewery followed by our traditional closing dinner. Good food, warm conversations, and a final toast to an already unforgettable week.

Friday
Our last day led us to Capmont Technology, where pretzels, pastries, and croissants were waiting for us. Philipp König welcomed the team for our final pitch of the roadshow. By then, our presentations were polished, our voices slightly raspy, and our step counters collectively exhausted. Leaving Munich, we carried with us not just notebooks full of insights and potential collaborations, but also a deep appreciation for the German deep-tech ecosystem, mountains of Bavarian food, and a set of memories only possible when traveling with such a remarkable group.

And while the contacts we made with the VCs were great, the real stars of the week were our fellow founders and their startups. 8inks is pushing battery performance to new levels with cutting-edge electrode coatings. Etavalve turns wasted industrial heat into clean electricity thanks to its brilliantly engineered, AI-driven valve technology. Grensol is bringing true circularity to end-of-life materials by converting mixed waste into valuable raw resources. REMA is driving down the cost of green hydrogen with its high-efficiency AEM electrolyzers. Rematter is reimagining construction with robotically prefabricated, climate-positive earth-timber floor systems. Verretex upcycles glass fibers into durable technical textiles for demanding industrial applications. And WasteFlow brings real-time AI to recycling facilities, improving sorting, safety, and overall efficiency.

Finally, also some words about our ventures: CellX Biosolutions provides nature-based bacterial solutions to sustainably and cost-efficiently treat persistent chemical pollution. qCella is redefining winter mobility with an advanced EV cabin heating technology that maximizes battery power for driving.

Thank you!
It was a true privilege to guide this year’s Venture Leaders Cleantech team. The founders impressed us every single day with their ambition, clarity, and resilience. A heartfelt thank-you to Jordi, João, and the entire Venturelab team for the flawless organization; to the partners  EPFL, ETH Zurich, Helbling Technik, Rentsch Partner, Canton of Vaud, Vischer, and Canton of Zurich for making this experience possible; and to our brilliant fellow founders for the laughter, the support, the big ideas, and the many kilometres walked together. What a week. And what a journey ahead!



Key takeaways from the roadshow:
>   Deep, high-quality conversations with investors matter more than rapid-fire pitching.
>   The roadshow proved how important it is to build a presence early in key European innovation hubs like Munich. 
>   Strategic guidance from the Venturelab team were as valuable as the investor meetings themselves.
>   The strongest inspiration came from the other founders in the cohort and the sense of shared momentum.
>   Being part of Venture Leaders Cleantech offered visibility and credibility that can accelerate partnerships and growth.

Become the next Venture Leader!