This time last year, Munich-based battery recycling startup tozero was getting ready to take to the stage at Centquatre Paris, and deliver a pitch that would crown it the grand winner of the Hello Tomorrow global deep tech startup competition.
Today, the German startup and its team are preparing to build their first industrial plant.
With the next edition of the Hello Tomorrow Global Summit just around the corner, marking its 10th anniversary, we caught up with tozero’s CEO and co-founder, Sarah Fleischer, to reflect on her team’s win last year and what’s on the horizon for the startup.
A virtuous circle for batteries
Tozero has developed a uniquely efficient process to recover valuable raw materials from recycled lithium-ion batteries, a hot topic in Europe, where most raw materials are still imported. Its water-based carbonation recovery process also avoids the use of harsh chemicals. With demand for battery materials set to only continue skyrocketing, its technology has the potential to play a central role in Europe’s green transition.
That’s also what some high-profile investors are betting on. Despite only being founded in 2022, tozero has already raised €17 million, from investors such as NordicNinja, In-Q-Tel, Honda, JGC Group, Atlantic Labs, Verve Ventures and Possible Ventures — in addition to a €2.5 million grant from the European Innovation Council (EIC).
This funding helped tozero establish a pilot plant that processes nine tons of battery waste per day. After making history as the first to deliver recycled lithium for industrial clients in Europe, full-scale industrial deployment will be its next milestone of many. Winning the Hello Tomorrow competition was another significant achievement.
The Hello Tomorrow experience
Being selected as the most promising startup out of 5,000 global applications doesn’t happen every day. Fleischer described it as a very meaningful moment for the company, well beyond the trophy or prize money.
One aspect was validation. “The team is always going to be impacted by this kind of win, it’s an external recognition that reminds us of why we’re doing what we’re doing,” she said.
Some of the positive outcomes were even more tangible: According to Fleischer, last year’s award resulted in increased visibility and meaningful connections, including to Honda, now one of tozero’s investors.
With around 3,500 attendees coming from all over the globe, all with a specific focus on deep tech, Fleischer also remarked on the value of such an environment as a founder.
“It’s easy to stay in your founder’s bubble, always thinking about investors or discussing with other founders, so being able to broaden your horizon at an event like that is very enriching,” she said. “I had conversations with really interesting people from across the spectrum, like a Nasa researcher or an editor at Nature, for example. That’s not the case at every conference I go to.”
Moving past roadblocks
Despite clear momentum so far, tozero faces the same challenges as many of their peers trying to scale deep tech innovation in Europe: legal hurdles.
“Our biggest obstacles now are regulations, bureaucracy and administration. Don’t get me wrong, they’re all there for a reason, but it slows us down and takes away resources,” Fleischer said.
Compared to the U.S. and China, European startups often feel at a disadvantage. But while they are hoping to benefit from faster permitting, larger government subsidies and more flexible regulations, the reality is that the continent is still grappling with regulatory reforms and financing schemes that would be crucial to nurture deep tech innovation — and the devil is in the detail.
Germany, for instance, has set up a ‘Startup Initiative’ specifically designed to allow innovative new companies to operate in a sort of ‘playground’ of regulatory flexibility. “The idea is great in theory,” Fleischer said, “but in practice, the country’s administration is so complex that the small town where we are located doesn’t even know it exists.”
As tozero endeavors to scale up, the question is as loud as ever: Will Europe adapt fast enough to support deep tech pioneers? One thing appears certain: tozero remains determined to forge ahead, but only time will tell if it can overcome hurdles as fast as its team would like.
In the meantime, the Hello Tomorrow Global Summit returns 13-14th March for its 10th anniversary with a new batch of deep tech startups shaping the future — stay tuned for more details.