How can purpose-driven founders and investors work together to build the solutions our economy urgently needs? Many startups are building solutions that target the root causes of today’s biggest challenges. But purpose-driven angel investors still have to evaluate each team individually, making it hard to fund impact at scale. In this episode, Tina Dreimann, founder of better ventures, explains how her network connects founders and investors to systematically change our economy towards impact an...
Jun 24, 2025•36 min•Ep. 50
What will it take to recover more critical materials when demand is growing and recovery systems aren’t keeping up? With the growing deployment of solar panels, wind turbines, electric vehicles, and data centers, demand for metals and minerals is rising fast. But current systems for recovering and reusing these materials are limited, inefficient, or missing entirely. In this episode, Aly Bryan, Senior Member of the investment team at Closed Loop Partners’ Venture Group, explains why critical mat...
Jun 17, 2025•42 min•Ep. 49
What does it take for circular and impact-driven startups to raise funding from VCs? In this episode, Charlotte Lafont, Principal at Ring Capital, explains how funds can integrate impact into every stage of the investment process, from evaluating impact intentionality to setting KPIs that are audited and tied to carried interest. Charlotte highlights what circular founders need to demonstrate to attract funding: strong product–market fit, alignment with existing value chains, and the ability to ...
Jun 10, 2025•38 min•Ep. 48
What does it take to invest in circularity in construction - an industry defined by waste, emissions, and long scaling cycles? In this episode, Bengt Steinbrecher of Holcim MAQER Ventures shares how one of the largest building materials companies works with startups to decarbonise the sector. From reusing 10 million tons of demolition material to testing carbon-storing concrete across Europe, Holcim blends strategic relevance with clear circular KPIs. The episode explores how corporate venture c...
Jun 03, 2025•34 min•Ep. 47
Decarbonising the economy is a political goal and a commercial opportunity. How can circular startups benefit as well? In this episode, Mark Windeknecht, Principal at World Fund, discusses the connection between decarbonisation and the circular economy. By examining the battery recycling startup Cylib, the food startup Planet A Foods and the consumer tech startup Faircado, Mark provides insights into the drawdown potential of different business models. As a considerable share of circular startup...
May 27, 2025•34 min•Ep. 46
Ocean plastics are a danger to the environment and humans. Cleaning it up and avoiding it from happening is a business opportunity, though. In this episode, Ellen Martin, Chief Impact Officer at Circulate Capital, presents how the circular startups in their portfolio tackle the plastics crisis while running profitable businesses. With venture capital investments in Asia and Latin America, Ellen highlights commonalities and differences of markets in these continents. She illustrates the dependenc...
May 20, 2025•33 min•Ep. 45
What is the better place to launch a circular statup, the US or Europe? In this episode, Maya Hassa, Principal at Circular Innovation Fund, discusses regional differences in circular business models and stresses the possibilities a fund can offer startups when working with corporate limited partners. This episode is part of VC for Circularity - the Venture Capital Perspective on Circular Economy Startups.
May 13, 2025•28 min•Ep. 44
What happens when the local farmers refuse to work with you? You build your own vertical farming factory. In this episode, Anja Brachmüller, COO at Veganz, shares the company's remarkable 13-year evolution from a single supermarket to an innovative food tech powerhouse with three factories across Europe. Discover how a small cashew cheese operation transformed Veganz's business model, and learn about their groundbreaking vertical farming technology that grows protein-rich peas using just 5% of t...
Apr 01, 2025•11 min•Ep. 43
Everyone says that the circular economy needs cooperation. But how is that supposed to work? In the KARE project, sixteen organisations are working to establish a regional competence centre for labour research into the circular economy of plastics. Companies of different sizes and degrees of maturity have to come together, as do competitors. In his talk at the CIRCULAZE Summit, Andreas Jenne, Head of Sustainability at REHAU Technologies, reports how the partners are coming together. It is only p...
Mar 25, 2025•13 min•Ep. 42
The expansion of Solar energy is progressing rapidly. But how do we keep this new equipment in circulation? Pamela Ong presents a systematic analysis of the solar panel supply chain. It covers product design and stakeholder collaboration as well as supply chain incentives and regulation. Pamela's talk is based on a new report from Cambridge Institute for Sustainability Leadership, E.ON Group Innovation and Institute for Manufacturing Engage, that explores the challenges and circular solutions as...
Mar 17, 2025•9 min•Ep. 41
The construction industry consumes the most new resources. At the same time, they have access to an enormous reservoir of materials: old buildings. But how can these urban mines be tapped? In his presentation, Matthias Heinrich uses the example of the Patrick Henry Village in Heidelberg to explain what is needed to reuse old buildings. You can find his presentation with illustrations on the episode's website. This episode is part of the series about the CIRCULAZE Summit from November 2024.
Mar 11, 2025•10 min•Ep. 40
The circular gap is immense, even in the fashion industry. Why is it not possible to do business more circularly? Serena Bonomi cites several reasons: from emotionality to incentives to the question of the economic system. Hear for yourself how a pioneer in circular fashion outlines problems and solutions. This episode is part of the series about the CIRCULAZE Summit from November 2024.
Mar 05, 2025•12 min•Ep. 39
Many family businesses are smart. That is why they look into circular business opportunities. But how can circularity be integrated into their corporate strategy? In this episode, Carl-Luis Rieger, unfolds the circular strategy of WEPA, a family business and European leader in producing hygienic paper. Looking into business development close to the core business, reducing and repurposing production waste and investing in startups close to the value chain. This episode is part of the CIRCULAZE Su...
Feb 25, 2025•12 min•Ep. 38
Championing circularity in a big company can be tough. But what if you could learn from someone who's already navigated the challenges? Let's uncover their key takeaways! In this episode, Nina Fechler, Director Global Circular Economy Program at Evonik, shares her three major learnings from the last years. They involve attitude towards the business, collaboration, and the right timing. This episode is part of the CIRCULAZE Summit series from November 2024.
Feb 18, 2025•12 min•Ep. 37
Transforming a linear business into a circular one requires the support of many colleagues. But how do you win them over for a circular future? In this episode, Vojtech Vosecky, LinkedIn's Top Green Voice with more than 143k followers, gives an insight into his communication strategy. Whether for building new circular business models, circular product design or improving recycling rates, Vojtech's tips help circularity professionals with internal stakeholder communication. This episode is part o...
Feb 11, 2025•28 min•Ep. 36
What insights do board members need to know, and what decisions must they make before starting a product-as-a-service proposition? Product-as-a-Service may look easy but is transformative for customers and the operating company. Being aware of the requirements and pitfalls helps to succeed. In this episode, Mailin Jappé, formerly Director Device-as-a-Service at Acer, and Patrick Hypscher look back at the fifteen episodes of PaaS Decoded and wrap it up for board members. This episode is the 16th ...
Dec 10, 2024•54 min•Ep. 35
How can customers and operators benefit from Product-as-a-Service? By creating efficiency gains that both parties share. With its Pay-Per-Part model, TRUMPF developed a concept that forced the OEM to rethink major elements of its offering. In doing so, overall machine efficiency increased to a degree that customers and TRUMPF benefitted from. In this episode, Tom Schneider, Benedikt Braig, and Jörg-Andre Junker provide insights into efficiency gains and their requirements. This episode is the 15...
Dec 03, 2024•54 min•Ep. 34
When customers operate their equipment poorly, the time has come for Product-as-a-Service. The cooling of large building complexes such as shopping centres, university campuses or offices is a case in point. In this episode, Dave Mackerness, Director at kaer, explains how Cooling-as-a-Service work. By optimising the equipment, connecting it and operating it much more efficiently, Cooling-as-a-Service can yield cost and emission reductions. This episode is the 14th in the series PaaS Decoded, 16 ...
Nov 26, 2024•35 min•Ep. 33
How integrated should a Product-as-a-Service proposition be in the core business? If an existing company starts a new as-a-service business, this question needs to be answered. In this episode, Rob Keulemans, Chief Commercial Officer at Royal Ahrend, describes the organisational journey of their Furniture-as-a-Service proposition. After a separate start, significant elements of FaaS are now part of core processes and systems. This episode is the 13th in the series PaaS Decoded, 16 conversations ...
Nov 19, 2024•34 min•Ep. 32
A durable and long-lasting product is a promising starting point for circular activities. Yet organisational challenges remain. In this episode, Caroline Stern gives insights into Hilti Group's challenges when measuring and improving its circularity. It starts with logistics, spans over accounting, and includes selecting the right input data for ERP systems designed for a linear world. This episode is the 12th in the series PaaS Decoded, 16 conversations about the fine details of product-as-a-se...
Nov 13, 2024•35 min•Ep. 31
Rental and Repair business models come with the promise of superior circularity. However, it is unclear if a specific company can deliver on this promise. In this episode, Dr. Marianne Kuhlmann, Co-Founder and Managing Director of Circularity, presents insights from the first market report of UNDRESS Circularity. UNDRESS Circularity provides a framework and practical guide to determine the impact of rental and repair business models. It is a collaborative industry project led by Circularity in c...
Nov 05, 2024•36 min•Ep. 30
Traditional reporting and accounting practices are designed for linear sales models.However, a circular product-as-a-service proposition requires a different logic and KPI. In this episode, Jonas Bulach, Project Manager Product-as-a-Service at Swiss Home Appliance Manufacturer V-ZUG, explains how V-ZUG creates transparency about the business and handles accounting challenges. This episode is the tenth in the series PaaS Decoded, 16 conversations about the fine details of product-as-a-service.
Oct 29, 2024•32 min•Ep. 29
Every Product-as-a-Service needs a product in the first place. A well-designed product supports the success of the subscription proposition. The Cradle to Cradle school of thought paved the way for circular thinking in product design. Products should be designed so that their materials and components can be repaired, repurposed, or recycled indefinitely. In this episode, Nora Sophie Griefahn, Co-Founder and Executive Director of the Cradle to Cradle NGO connects circular product design with Prod...
Oct 22, 2024•40 min•Ep. 28
Grover is a role model for debt-based asset funding. With nearly € 2bn of debt from various lenders in multiple rounds Grover has shown a way of separating startup and asset risk. In this episode, Mitja Sadar, former Senior Vice President Finance and Head of Debt Capital Markets at Grover, gives insights into Grover’s approach. Mitja explains the various stages, pitfalls and the interrelation between the product portfolio and debt structures. This episode is the eighth in the series PaaS Decoded...
Oct 01, 2024•38 min•Ep. 27
Do PaaS models reduce overall resource consumption? Enhancing circularity is one motivation for starting PaaS. But PaaS does not necessarily deliver on that promise. It requires monitoring consequences and benchmarking them with other behaviours. In this episode, Ankita Das, PhD Researcher on Circular Business Models at Circular X at Maastricht University, explains the origin and character of rebound effects. She does not stop there but shares common mitigation strategies and ways to implement r...
Sep 24, 2024•28 min•Ep. 26
When is a business model considered circular? A fund with circularity in its name must answer this question. Andrew Shannon, Partner at Circularity Partners, gives us her answer. A benchmark market method is used to examine the behaviour of the portfolio company's customers. In addition, Andrew describes how the financing challenges of PaaS businesses can be overcome. This episode is the sixth in the series PaaS Decoded, 16 conversations about the fine details of product-as-a-service.
Sep 17, 2024•41 min•Ep. 25
Funding the assets is a prominent challenge for PaaS businesses. Assets have to be prefinanced, as customers only pay a monthly few. Generally, three partners can provide support: venture capital investors, banks, and strategic partners, such as manufacturers. In this episode, Lennert van Mens provides a bank's perspective on a PaaS business, including the overall business model, the cashflow design and the value generation. This episode is the fifth in the series PaaS Decoded, 16 conversations ...
Sep 11, 2024•49 min•Ep. 24
Running a Product-as-a-Service Business includes refurbishing products. It is not only a process in itself. It can also be another business model in itself. Philips created a symbiotic relationship between PaaS and Refurbishment. PaaS returns are refurbished and sold as refurbished products. And many more products that are not available as subscriptions can be bought as refurbished. In this episode, Boris Romero and Vincent van Lamoen from Philips give us insights into the refurbishment process,...
Sep 03, 2024•41 min•Ep. 23
Consumers are looking to adopt a circular economy, based on renting and buying second-hand. Anna Balez, founder and CEO of Lizee, shares her insights about consumer preferences with us. Customers demand solutions for their problems. Subscriptions can be one solution, but they are not the only one. This interview looks at the differences between renting and second-hand from a customer, operations, and company perspective. This episode is the third in the series PaaS Decoded, 16 conversations abou...
Aug 27, 2024•34 min•Ep. 22
Never run out of ink - that is the promise of HP Instant Ink. This promise attracts millions of customers worldwide. Shuchir Bhatia, Global Product Manager for HP Instant Ink takes us on a journey to discover how HP runs this proposition on a global scale. Shuchir explains why HP chose a Pay-per-Month over a Pay-per-Use (or Pay per Page) plan and how the ink and the printer play together for HP Instant Ink. Connectivity is key, also for fraud protection. Additionally, we get insights into region...
Aug 23, 2024•41 min•Ep. 21
