Verretex: The Venture Leader Cleantech turning waste into high-performance glass fibers

29.09.2025 10:00, Rita Longobardi

Meet Mitchell Anderson, CEO of Verretex. The Cleantech startup converts recycled composite waste into advanced glass fiber textiles for multiple industries. In November, Mitchell and the other nine Swiss National Cleantech Team members will travel to Munich on a business development and investor roadshow.

Name: Mitchell Anderson
Location: Saint-Sulpice, VD
Nationality: Canadian
Graduated from: PhD at Queen’s University, Postdoc at EPFL
Job title: CEO
Number of employees: 5
Money raised: CHF 1.2M

 

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Can you tell us who your product or solution helps, and how?
Verretex produces circular glass fiber textiles from recycled waste streams, offering a sustainable alternative to virgin fibers. Our high-quality drop-in replacement helps manufacturers cut carbon emissions and meet circularity demands across industries including wind energy, automotive, aerospace, marine, and sporting goods—without compromising performance.

What market are you addressing and what is the potential of your startup in that market?
We target the global glass fiber composites market, producing over 6 million tons annually, with rising demand in wind turbines, EVs, boats, and aircraft. The industry faces pressure to cut emissions and manage waste. Verretex converts production and end-of-life waste into high-value textiles, aiming to set the global standard for sustainable glass fiber composites.

How and where did you come up with the idea for your startup?
The idea came from two striking images—mountains of discarded wind turbine blades and sunken or piled-up boats, a problem I felt personally as a sailor. Our industry experience also played a role: while working with recycled glass fiber composites, we saw that low-quality fibers had no practical use. That gap became our opportunity. With Verretex, we transform these fibers into high-quality glass fiber textiles.

What do you expect from the Venture Leaders roadshow, and how do you think it will help you achieve your vision?
The Venture Leaders Cleantech roadshow offers Verretex a chance to advance our investment round and international growth. By meeting Munich’s top cleantech investors and industry partners, we can showcase our circular glass fiber textiles and secure the capital to scale production. Curated meetings with corporates and experts will also accelerate business development, opening partnerships in automotive, wind, and aerospace. The roadshow thus supports our dual goals: completing fundraising and establishing Verretex as a leader in circular composites.
 

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What are your team’s key achievements to date?
We’re proud of the progress we’ve made in a short time. Our biggest achievements to date have been product validation across multiple industries. We have demonstrated that our circular glass fiber textiles can be seamlessly integrated into existing manufacturing workflows, something critical for adoption. We’ve already achieved validation in wind energy, marine, and sporting goods, and are now moving forward with automotive testing. Each of these milestones confirms both the technical performance and the market relevance of our solution.

Is there a key principle or value that guides you as you build your company?
Circularity, eco-consciousness, and integrity are the principles that guides everything we do. As we scale Verretex, we operate in a complex ecosystem of investors, partners, and customers. Trust and transparency are essential for long-term success, especially in cleantech where industry collaboration is critical. Above all, integrity means holding ourselves accountable, to the science, to our partners, and to our mission of reducing the environmental footprint of composites. It’s the foundation of our team culture and the reason we’ve been able to achieve so much so quickly.

What is the most important lesson you have learned as a founder?
Warren Buffett once said, “In looking for people to hire, you look for three qualities: integrity, intelligence, and energy. And if you don’t have the first, the other two will kill you.” That lesson could not be more true in the startup world. As a founder, I’ve learned firsthand the danger of working with people who lack integrity, their intelligence and energy can quickly become destructive. For that reason, integrity has become the single most important, non-negotiable factor when building our team and choosing collaborators.

What is your favorite productivity hack or tool and why?
For me, it’s carving out quiet time late at night, usually between midnight and 2 a.m. During those hours, I can work through all the small but necessary administrative tasks that pile up during the day. This practice frees up my daytime hours for high-value activities, strategy, fundraising, and team leadership, while also protecting evenings for family and friends. It’s a simple habit, but it helps me stay balanced and ensures my most productive hours are spent on what matters most.

What was your dream job when you were a child?
I’ve wanted to be an entrepreneur since I was a kid. Growing up in rural northern Canada, I sold hockey cards at 10, ran a small lawn care business, and dreamed of a food truck or opening a Tim Hortons in my town. By high school, my focus shifted to environmental challenges, leading me to study clean energy in physics and engineering. Today, I get to build a company tackling some of the world’s most pressing environmental problems.