🎙 Episode 150 – Jan Lozek, Managing Director & Founder, Future Energy Ventures
In this milestone episode of Leaders in Cleantech, David Hunt is joined by Jan Lozek, a veteran investor and the founder of Future Energy Ventures, one of Europe’s largest and most influential climate tech VCs.
Together, they explore the evolution of cleantech investment, the challenges and opportunities facing founders today, and why Europe is uniquely positioned to lead the energy transition—despite global headwinds.
 
🔥 In this episode, we discuss:
Jan’s personal journey from the 1980s Green movement to launching Future Energy Ventures
The shift from hardware-heavy to software- and AI-led cleantech startups
Why team dynamics and diversity are critical investment criteria
The growing competition and collaboration in the VC ecosystem
U.S. unpredictability, Trump tariffs, and why Europe must seize the moment
The importance of long-term thinking, founder resilience, and learning from failure
What excites Jan most for 2025 in EVs, heating, and AI in energy
 
🧠 Quote of the episode:
“Deploying new technology is change—and change is done by people, through people.” – Jan Lozek
 
💡 Who should listen?
Cleantech founders, VC & PE professionals, climate tech enthusiasts, policy influencers, and anyone curious about scaling sustainable innovation.
 
🔗 Connect with Jan & Future Energy Ventures:
[Website] https://www.fev.vc
[LinkedIn] https://www.linkedin.com/company/future-energy-ventures/
[Jan Lozek on LinkedIn] https://www.linkedin.com/in/janlozek/

🌍 About the podcast:
Leaders in Cleantech brings you insightful conversations with the people driving the clean energy and sustainability revolution—founders, investors, and changemakers shaping our net zero future.

What’s it all about?
Energy Storage, to infinity and beyond!  How do you forecast and predict revenues from your energy storage assets, even if not built yet? Modo have a range of solutions to help asset owners, developers and investors to answer these questions. We also dive into the challenges and experiences of high growth, from pivoting and fundraising to new market entry and building and retaining high performing teams.

About Quentin Scrimshire:
Quentin ‘Q’ Scrimshire has over a decade of experience working in battery energy storage and power markets, covering asset development, financing, construction, trading and optimisation. Before co-founding Modo Energy in 2019, he led Kiwi Power’s European energy storage business (acquired by ENGIE). Previously, he was an engineer at Centrica PLC working on capital projects across offshore wind, oil & gas, thermal power, peaking plant and energy storage. He holds his Masters Degree in Electrical Engineering from the University of Manchester.
About Modo Energy:
Modo Energy is a B2B SaaS platform that helps renewable energy companies, funds, utilities, and banks manage and value their energy assets. The company specializes in batteries and provides data, analytics, and forecasting to help customers understand the financial performance of their energy assets.

Social links: 
Quentin 'Q' Scrimshire on LinkedIn: Quentin 'Q' Scrimshire
Modo Energy on LinkedIn: Modo Energy: Overview
Modo Energy website: Home
Podcast

Chapters:
00:00 Introduction
00:40 Meet Quentin Scrimshire of Modo Energy
01:11 The Vision and Mission of Modo Energy
02:19 Global Expansion and Market Focus
02:56 Quentin's Journey in Energy Storage
04:48 Founding Modo Energy: Challenges and Pivots
15:37 Leadership and Company Culture
27:13 Customer-Centric Approach and Community Building
35:57 Future Plans and Closing Remarks

What’s it all about?
Building cleantech start-ups, at scale. It can be confusing, the world of Incubators, accelerators and venture builders, also known as start-up studios. Who does what, how and why? In this episode we clarify some of those things, but discuss so much more about the why and how of new cleantech venture builder Big Circle Ventures, with founder CEO Joost Kruytzer. Joost is a very experienced venture builder, recently moving from healthtech to cleantech following a passion to address some of our biggest challenges. I hope you enjoy the episode.

Chapters:
00:00 Introduction
00:46 Understanding Venture Building
02:13 The Genesis of Big Circle Ventures
03:57 Scaling Startups: The Big Circle Approach
05:35 Clarifying Venture Builders vs. Accelerators and Incubators
07:24 The Journey from IP to Startup
13:59 The Importance of Culture in Startups
18:28 Ambitions and Future Plans for Big Circle Ventures
24:29 Challenges and Rewards in Venture Building
32:52 Focus Areas and Opportunities in Climate Tech
35:21 Call to Action: Collaborate with Big Circle Ventures
39:56 Conclusion and Final Thoughts

About Joost Kruytzer:
Theoretical physicist turned management consultant turned deeptech venture builder. Driven by positive impact. Built up NLC as its COO, to become Europe’s largest healthtech venture builder, creating over 100 ventures along the way. Earlier this year he founded BigCircle Ventures, applying a similar model to tackle the world’s climate and circularity challenges
About BigCircle Ventures: 
BigCircle Ventures scouts promising deeptech and turns this into successful startups that tackle the world's climate and circularity challenges. BigCircle Ventures is set up to become the world’s largest greentech venture builder. We bring a unique flow of early stage innovations to the market, to boost the world’s journey towards net zero and circularity. The world needs greentech, but promising inventions often stay untouched on a shelf, hidden in a university, research institute or company. We will tackle this problem by using our proven venture building model and fund.

Social links: 
Joost Kruytzer on LinkedIn
BigCircle Ventures on LinkedIn
BigCircle Ventures website

What’s it all about?
Investing in Hardtech! Yes, it’s true, some VC’s do invest in hardtech/deeptech, knowing the specific challenges of supporting companies of this nature to scale. This week I speak with Malin Carlstrom of Danish VC Climentum Capital about scaling deeptech, the importance of team, the usefulness (and otherwise) of advisors and NED’s, and the ‘perfect storm’ giving optimism about the chances for climatetech to have its’ day.

About Malin Carlstrom:
Malin has spent the last two decades investing for leading financial and corporate Venture Capital funds. She is an engineer with a passion for deep-tech and energy transformation, and she is deeply connected in the Nordic VC ecosystems. Malin has previously worked as an investor at Industrifonden, Verdane, SEB, and ABB, building extensive experience in sourcing, deal-making, portfolio management and exiting. As of 2022, Malin is a General Partner at Article 9 fund Climentum Capital, which focuses on hardtech companies that abate large scale CO2 emissions.

About Climentum Capital: 
Climentum Capital is a Venture Capital firm based in Copenhagen, Berlin and Stockholm. The General Partners Malin Carlström, Dörte Hirschberg, Morten Halborg and Stefan Maard invest in European B2B climate hard tech startups. 
Climentum targets late Seed and Series A investments in the five sectors that generate more than 90% of emissions in Europe: energy, industry, food & agriculture, buildings and transportation. 

The pioneering Article 9 fund has a double incentives structure, with carry indexed on both CO2 emissions reductions and financial returns. 
Climentum’s portfolio includes Qvantum, Aegir Insights and Jolt.

Social links:  
Malin Carlstrom on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/malin-carlstrom/
Climentum Capital on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/climentum/
Climentum Capital website: https://www.climentum.com/

What’s it all about?
Clean, efficient, reliable, electric public transport. After traveling by Bus and Coach across five continents, Keith Bradbury and Co-Founder Pierce Glennie made the switch from Fintech to Cleantech, with a solution to the cost, pollution and unreliability and hassle of public transport. Ember was born, you can hear the story from inception to recent A-round fundraise, and plans for the future. Enjoy the episode.

About Keith Bradbury:
Deep generalist. Hopeful sceptical empiricist. Rock climber. Wants to go to space.

About Ember:
Ember is building the future of intercity transport – fully electric and tech enabled. Our goal is to replace the private car with a better alternative which makes your whole journey, from A to B, seamless. Our full stack platform powers the operations, the charging infrastructure, and the entire customer experience. As a result, we're running the highest mileage EV's in the world on the most demanding routes.

We’re a tech company, not a traditional bus operator. We've built a platform that coordinates our entire operation – everything from monitoring vehicles and controlling chargers to selling tickets and calculating ETAs. This allows us to use electric buses more intensively than anyone else in the world, leading to a massive emissions reduction. It also helps us provide a much better passenger experience, with innovative features like demand-responsive stops

Chapters:
00:00:00 - Introduction to Ember: Revolutionizing Inter City Transport
00:05:01 - The Genesis of the Idea of Electric Coaches
00:09:47 - Delivering a Better Passenger Experience
00:14:32 - The Ember Platform and Managing the Customer Experience
00:19:35 - Starting and Scaling the Business
00:24:31 - Developing our own charging Hub
00:29:23 - Long-termism and Commitment in Startups
00:33:59 - Scaling the Business and Future Opportunities
00:39:06 - Delivering a Great Experience
00:43:58 - Ember Buses in the Future

Social links: 
Keith Bradbury on LinkedIn
Ember on LinkedIn
Ember Website

What’s it all about?

Solar, and moving from corporate life to a start up. I first met my guest today, Joachim Rupp at a start-up within a corporate, building Viessmann’s Photovoltaic business, before that he’d been in some big corporate roles, more recently we helped him secure the CEO role at a Lithuanian solar scale-up, Detra Solar. We talk solar evolution and trends, but also the challenges and rewards of a career transition. Enjoy the episode.

Chapters:
00:00:00 - Introduction and Backgrounds
00:03:43 - The Role of Engineering in Solar Projects
00:07:37 - Consistency and Documentation
00:11:53 - Collaboration and Unity across a Growing Team
00:15:39 - Human Resources
00:23:56 - Transitioning from Corporate to Startup
00:27:56 - Concerns and Excitements in the Solar Industry
00:36:14 - Closing Words

About Joachim Rupp:
Joachim Rupp has a strong background in Electrical Engineering and Business, with over 20 years of experience in the renewable energy field. His expertise covers Solar Energy, Energy Storage, EV Charging, Heating and Cooling Systems, Energy Management, and Systems Integration.
Throughout his career, Joachim has made significant contributions to leading companies like Hitachi and Samsung. He uses his technical and business skills to drive innovation and improve operations. Joachim is deeply committed to the Energy Transition and actively works to reduce CO2 emissions, promoting a cleaner and more sustainable planet. His dedication helps address current energy challenges and lays the foundation for a sustainable future.

About Detra Solar:
Detra Solar is a leading ISO 9001:2015 certified Solar & Storage design, engineering, and consulting firm. Over the 13 years of our experience we have delivered 45 GWp worth of projects across 50+ countries which equals to providing power to over 21 million households. Proudly, we are the birthplace of PVcase, the industry-standard solar engineering software.
Specializing in Solar & Storage designs, we prioritize quality offering a unique blend of short-term savings and long-term profitability. Through our boutique approach, we provide highly optimized, tailor-made solutions, setting us apart in the solar engineering landscape.

Social links: 
Joachim Rupp on LinkedIn
Detra Solar on LinkedIn
Detra Solar website 

What’s it all about?
Batteries. More specifically, software enabled batteries helping to make Electric vehicles, consumer electronics, and wearables, more efficient, providing better customer experiences. I speak to another start-up spun out of Imperial College London, with a novel and proven set of products and technologies moving forward the transition towards better, longer lasting and faster charging vehicles and devices. A great spin-out journey. I hope you enjoy the episode.

Chapters:
00:00:00 - Introduction and Background
00:04:54 - Technological Developments and Investments
00:09:48 - Enabling More with Power and Materials
00:14:35 - Expanding Battery Attributes for Customer Satisfaction
00:19:28 - The Importance of Translation in Battery Systems
00:24:06 - Establishing Technical Credibility with Large Players
00:29:03 - The Challenge of Talent Acquisition and Culture Building
00:34:11 - Focus and Timing in Business Growth
00:39:10 - Shifting Priorities in the Automotive Sector
00:44:08 - Ian's Journey and Future Plans

About Dr. Ian Campbell:
Ian is passionate about mathematics, computing and batteries. He cares about climate protection and dreams of a world with clean air. He’s excited by a future with electric cars, boats and aircraft but frustrated by the barriers imposed by current battery technologies. In response, he began researching lithium-ion batteries at Imperial College London in 2015. In 2019 he graduated with a PhD in the topic and experience consulting to a range of industries. Today, he merges his passions at Breathe, where he and his team are working to overcome those barriers.
Outside of work, he enjoys competing in motorsport and triathlons. Since 2019 he prepares, runs and drives a Formula Ford in events such as the Walter Hayes Trophy at Silverstone.
• PhD in lithium-ion battery engineering
• Consulted on vehicle electrification to a range of industries
• Produced battery modelling codes used around the world
• Published in leading electrochemistry journals on optimal cell design using physics-based battery models and cell-health evaluation using real-time capable methods

About Breathe Battery Technologies:
Breathe Battery Technologies (“Breathe”) is more than a battery performance company. Since being spun out of Imperial College in 2019, Breathe’s focus has been on building battery technology to contribute to a faster, better and more sustainable electrification of the world.
Today, it provides physics-based battery management software that helps the world’s most iconic electric vehicle and consumer electronics brands do more with the power they have. Breathe Battery Technologies’ dream is that one day everyone will breathe clean air. That's why it makes batteries better. Social links: 
• Ian Campbell on LinkedIn
• Breath Battery Technologies on LinkedIn
• Technologies website
• On X
• Breath Battery Technologies website

In start-up world everyone wants to know about the deals. Who raised what, which VC's are spending some of that 'dry powder' all these things are important, but looking at the bigger trends is perhaps more useful.

In this Bitesize episode I speak with Federico Cristoforoni of Net Zero Insights about some of the trends is their Q! Quarterly Report. We discuss some of the key themes, but you can access the full report here.

Chapters:
00:00:00 - Introduction to Federico
00:01:40 - State of the Industry Update
00:03:27 - Economic Uncertainty and Investment Trends
00:05:24 - Changing Dynamics and Mega Deals in the Marketplace
00:07:20 - Scaling up Technologies for the Future
00:09:12 - Increasing Non-Dilutive Rounds in the Industry
00:11:24 - European Clean Tech and US Investment
00:13:30 - Analysis of Funding for Physical vs. Digital Solutions
00:15:18 - The Skew Towards Larger Infrastructure and Scale
00:16:53 - Deep Dive into the Clean Tech Market

What’s it all about?
Solar. Another part of the value-chain explored by this BNEF award-winning, Mega-funding round landing solar SaaS start-up/scale-up. We speak with founder and CEO David Trainavvicius about the journey so far.

About David Trainavicius:
David is the Founder and CEO of PVcase. He has been involved with a wide variety of solar projects since 2009, gaining expertise in the European solar power market and regulations. He has an in-depth knowledge of solar energy systems, including roof mounts, ground mounts and façades.
Under his leadership, PVcase has become a leading design software in the PV market.

About PVCase:
PVcase creates advanced software to break logjams in the engineering and construction of renewable energy projects, making them less labor-intensive, time-consuming, and complicated. Our technology enables developers to complete projects faster, more efficiently, and more precisely – accelerating the global transition to clean energy. It’s the top choice of renewable energy design professionals and development companies in nearly 80 countries. PVcase puts an end to clunky processes and corrupted data and clears our path to a net-zero economy.

In 2024 PVcase was recognized as #104 in the Financial Time’s index of Europe’s Fastest Growing Companies and selected for. and winning the Bloomberg NEF’s prestigious Pioneer Award. David recently penned a byline for Renewable Energy World on what he believes to be the most pressing issue constraining renewable energy growth, data risk.

Chapters:
00:00:00 - Introduction to David
00:03:24 - The Birth of PVCase and the Challenges
00:07:17 - Transitioning from Engineering to SaaS Business
00:14:29 - Maintaining Culture During Growth
00:17:48 - Building a Strong Company Culture
00:21:14 - Disrupting Incumbents in the Market
00:25:13 - The Growth of the Solar Industry
00:29:12 - Hybrid Projects and the Combination of Different Types of Renewable Energy

Social links: 
David Trainavicius on LinkedIn
PVCase on LinkedIn
PVCase on YouTube
PVCase on X
PVCase website: 

What’s it all about?
Solar. But not rooftops this time, the other end of the value-chain. Wafers are not only a large part of the cost of solar modules, producing them is also very energy intensive, and therefore carbon emitting. Through innovation in this part of the process Nexwafe hope to make the manufacture of solar modules, cheaper, cleaner, and to bring manufacturing at scale to Europe, North America, and India, and beyond. We need how much solar? We’re heading to Terawatt territory. We need innovations like this. Enjoy the episode

About Dr Davor Sutija:
Dr. Davor Sutija's serial entrepreneurial goal is to inject radical go-to-market strategies into companies with potentially game-changing technology, repositioning them for success. He has shown the ability to help companies capture market share in a number of seminal industries, such as Enterprise Search, Photovoltaics, MEMS sensors, Printed Electronics and Industrial AI, and has a proven track record of success. Davor joined NexWafe in 2020 as CEO and has successfully secured $75M in private equity funding to assist with the company’s pivot to accelerate technology development with a view to rapid product commercialization. Previously, Davor was co-founder and CEO of SiNor AS, the sister company of ScanWafer in REC, and CEO of publicly traded Thinfilm. He was also SVP Enterprise Products at FAST, when it was acquired by Microsoft for $1.3B USD. Davor is a graduate of the Jerome Fisher Management and Technology program at the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania and holds M.S./Ph.D. Chemical Engineering degrees from the University of California, Berkeley, where he was a Hertz Foundation Fellow.

Social links: 
Andres Anijalg on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/davorsutija/
NexWafe on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/nexwafe/
NexWafe website: https://www.nexwafe.com/