New Wave.

Hosted by Hugo Rauch

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Jun 2026

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Where the next wave of climate tech begins. newwavenewsletter.substack.com

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June 16, 202641 min

#97 - Beau-Anne Chilla - FORWARD.one - "Technology without commercialization is just expensive science"

Brought to you by:Heights: a design agency founded by Gabri Grassi, helping impact-driven tech companies sharpen their brand, attract investors, and scale their reach. Grab your free brand checklist here or reach out to Gabri to elevate your brand.****Subscribe to the newsletter:New Wave | Hugo Rauch | Substack****🌊 Turning Deep Tech Into Industrial ChampionsWhy commercialization is the real bottleneck for climate and industrial innovation.We’re joined by Beau-Anne Chilla, Partner at ForwardONE, an early-stage deep tech investor focused on industrial and energy technologies.In this episode, we explore what it really takes to turn breakthrough technologies into category-defining companies, and why Europe may be entering a once-in-a-generation moment for industrial innovation.Beau shares lessons from investing in hardware, quantum computing, energy infrastructure, and industrial software, as well as his perspective on where climate investing is headed next.In our conversation, we covered:→ Why “technology without commercialization is just expensive science”→ The biggest mistakes technical founders make when scaling sales→ How to evaluate deep tech before the market fully exists→ What VCs get wrong about hardware investing→ The reality of commercializing industrial technologies→ Why customer validation matters more than investor excitement→ Investing in quantum computing before the market arrives→ Europe’s opportunity to lead in energy and industrial innovation→ Why efficiency may be one of the most overlooked climate solutions→ How ForwardONE identifies winners and doubles down on convictionOne theme stood out throughout the conversation: innovation alone isn’t enough. The companies that create lasting impact are the ones that bridge the gap between technical excellence and commercial execution.As Beau puts it, founders need to build products customers are willing to adopt, not just technologies that are impressive in the lab.We also discuss why climate and industrial investing should no longer be viewed as separate categories. Improving efficiency, reducing energy consumption, and modernizing industrial systems may not always be the most radical solutions, but they can create enormous impact at scale.And as Europe pushes for greater energy independence and industrial resilience, Bo believes the timing has never been better.✨ Leave a review and share the episode if this conversation challenged the way you think about growth, innovation, and sustainability. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit newwavenewsletter.substack.com

June 9, 202642 min

#96 - Assia Kasdi - Milvus Advanced - "Can we create metals like we create shampoos?"

Brought to you by:Heights: a design agency founded by Gabri Grassi, helping impact-driven tech companies sharpen their brand, attract investors, and scale their reach. Grab your free brand checklist here or reach out to Gabri to elevate your brand.****Subscribe to the newsletter:New Wave | Hugo Rauch | Substack****🌊 The New Alchemy of Clean EnergyWhy the future of climate-tech may depend on replacing critical minerals altogether.We’re joined by Assia, CEO of Milvus Advanced, an Oxford-born materials startup developing earth-abundant nanoalloys that can replace critical minerals like platinum, iridium, and indium.What started as a PhD research project became a mission to solve one of the biggest hidden bottlenecks in the energy transition: our dependence on scarce, geopolitically concentrated materials.In this episode, we explore why the clean energy transition is ultimately a materials challenge, and what it takes to build entirely new metals from scratch.In our conversation, we covered:→ Why Assia abandoned the idea that renewables are inherently sustainable→ The journey from Oxford chemistry labs to venture-backed founder→ How a 13th-century story about “German Silver” inspired a breakthrough in nanomaterials→ Why most climate technologies depend on fragile mineral supply chains→ The hidden role of metals in batteries, hydrogen, semiconductors, and clean energy systems→ Why performance alone isn’t enough—and why cost always wins→ How Milvus is creating substitutes for platinum-group metals using abundant materials like copper and nickel→ The challenge of scaling chemistry from milligrams to kilograms—and eventually tons→ What founders can learn from academia about risk, persistence, and conviction→ Why climate startups are increasingly becoming sovereignty and defense companiesOne of Assia’s most striking observations is that technologies don’t actually care which element they’re using. They care about the properties. The opportunity is about recreating critical minerals behavior with materials that are abundant, affordable, and locally available.If that thesis proves true, the implications stretch far beyond climate.✨ Leave a review and share the episode if this conversation challenged the way you think about growth, innovation, and sustainability. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit newwavenewsletter.substack.com

June 2, 2026Episode 9552 min

#95 - Maximilian Schwarz - Nucleus - "It needs to feel uncomfortable sitting with them"

Brought to you by:Heights: a design agency founded by Gabri Grassi, helping impact-driven tech companies sharpen their brand, attract investors, and scale their reach. Grab your free brand checklist here or reach out to Gabri to elevate your brand.****Subscribe to the newsletter:New Wave | Hugo Rauch | Substack****🌊 Building Conviction Before the World Sees ItWhat it takes to back scientific founders before there’s a product, revenue, or proof that the science will work.We’re joined by Max, Founder & Managing Partner at Nucleus, a pre-seed venture fund backing scientific and technical founders across food, biotech, and industrial innovation.In this episode, we dive into what it really takes to become the first institutional believer in a company, often before there’s an MVP, customers, or even certainty that the underlying technology can scale.Max shares the lessons from building Nucleus from scratch, how he learned to evaluate breakthrough science without being a scientist himself, and why the best founders combine technical brilliance with the ability to tell a compelling story.In our conversation, we covered:→ Why founder-market fit matters more than market analysis at pre-seed→ How Nucleus evaluates scientific risk and separates companies from science projects→ What Max learned from building a fund as a first-time manager→ Why early investors need to make mistakes to develop conviction→ The role of advisors, operators, and domain experts in deep-tech diligence→ What “great” looks like in a scientific founder→ Why storytelling is an underrated superpower for technical teams→ The differences between European and American deep-tech founders→ How Nucleus supports founders beyond capital→ Why Europe may have a unique advantage in science and industrial innovation✨ Leave a review and share the episode if this conversation challenged the way you think about growth, innovation, and sustainability. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit newwavenewsletter.substack.com

May 26, 2026Episode 9453 min

#94 - Renaud Visage - SlateVC - The CTO behind Eventbrite is now chasing Europe's climate unicorns

Brought to you by:Heights: a design agency founded by Gabri Grassi, helping impact-driven tech companies sharpen their brand, attract investors, and scale their reach. Grab your free brand checklist here or reach out to Gabri to elevate your brand.****Subscribe to the newsletter:New Wave | Hugo Rauch | Substack****🌊 Building Europe’s Climate Growth EngineWhy the next generation of climate champions will need more than early-stage capital to win.We’re joined by Renaud Visage, Co-Founder at SlateVC and former CTO of Eventbrite, for a deep dive into what it really takes to scale climate companies in Europe, from founder psychology to growth-stage financing.After helping build Eventbrite from startup to IPO, Renaud spent years angel investing and learning the mechanics of venture from the inside at Index Ventures and Point Nine. Today, with SlateVC, he’s focused on one of the biggest gaps in European climate tech: growth-stage capital.In this episode, we unpack why Europe needs specialist climate investors now more than ever, and what separates companies that scale from those that disappear.In our conversation, we covered:→ Why brand matters more than product in the age of AI→ The hard lessons Renaud learned from 80+ angel investments→ Why many climate startups still underestimate their “equity story”→ What growth-stage climate investing really looks like in practice→ Why climate specialist funds may outperform generalists over the next decade→ How founders should think about exits earlier than they do today→ What makes a company financeable beyond venture capital→ Why Europe urgently needs more Series B and growth-stage climate capitalOne of the strongest takeaways from this conversation:The tourists have left climate tech, and that may actually be the best thing for the sector.✨ Leave a review and share the episode if this conversation challenged the way you think about growth, innovation, and sustainability. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit newwavenewsletter.substack.com

May 19, 202638 min

#93 - Patrik Möller - CorPower Ocean - "Wave energy could surpass global nuclear capacity."

Brought to you by Heights:A design agency founded by Gabri Grassi, helping impact-driven tech companies sharpen their brand, attract investors, and scale their reach. Grab your free brand checklist here or reach out to Gabri to elevate your brand.****Subscribe to the newsletter:New Wave | Hugo Rauch | Substack****🌊 Riding the Next Energy WaveWhy wave energy might become the missing piece of the 24/7 clean power puzzle.We’re joined by CorPower Ocean co-founder & CEO Patrick Müller, an engineer and deeptech entrepreneur building one of the world’s most advanced wave energy companies.In this episode, we dive into the future of wave energy, and unpack what it really takes to turn one of the ocean’s harshest environments into a scalable source of clean electricity. Patrick explains why wave energy has historically failed, what changed technically over the last decade, and why CorPower believes it can finally make ocean power commercially viable.In our conversation, we covered:→ Why wave energy could become a multi-terawatt global opportunity→ The brutal engineering challenge of surviving 18-meter ocean waves→ How CorPower’s “phase control” technology boosts energy capture 3x→ Why wave energy complements solar and wind instead of competing with them→ The economics behind 24/7 clean power systems→ Why modular “Lego-style” deployment matters more than giant machines→ The role of grants, public support, and first commercial projects→ Why data centers may become one of wave energy’s biggest customers→ How CorPower spent nearly 14 years de-risking the technology before scalingOne of the most interesting parts of the conversation was Patrick’s framing of the ocean as a giant natural battery. Instead of generating power only when the wind blows or the sun shines, wave energy captures energy already “stored” in ocean swells, creating a much smoother and more predictable production profile.And that changes the economics of clean energy systems entirely.According to CorPower, adding wave energy into a renewable mix can significantly reduce the amount of storage and grid infrastructure required to reach near-constant clean electricity.✨ Leave a review and share the episode if this conversation challenged the way you think about growth, innovation, and sustainability. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit newwavenewsletter.substack.com

May 12, 20261 hr 1 min

#92 - Timothée Parrique - "You can’t save the climate with capitalism"

Subscribe to the newsletter:New Wave | Hugo Rauch | Substack****🌊 Can Capitalism Survive the Planetary Boundaries?We’re joined by Timothée Parrique (website), researcher in ecological economics at the University of Lausanne and one of the leading voices challenging the idea that endless economic growth can coexist with a finite planet.In this episode, we dive into the uncomfortable tension between capitalism, climate innovation, and ecological limits, and unpack what it would actually take to build an economy that operates within planetary boundaries.From venture capital and climate tech to sufficiency, cooperation, and post-capitalist systems, this conversation pushes far beyond the usual climate debate.In our conversation, we covered:→ Why climate change may be the easiest ecological crisis to solve→ The difference between innovation… and “exnovation”→ Why green growth hasn’t reduced ecological overshoot fast enough→ Why capitalism structurally depends on expansion and growth→ The limits of venture-backed climate solutions→ Why policy alone won’t solve the transition→ The role of NGOs, cooperatives, and non-profit models in a post-growth economy→ Why degrowth is not collapse, but a planned downscaling of production and consumption→ The hidden contradiction between finance and nature→ Why cooperation, not competition, may define the next economic system✨ Leave a review and share the episode if this conversation challenged the way you think about growth, innovation, and sustainability. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit newwavenewsletter.substack.com

May 5, 20261 hr 20 min

#91 - Ahmed Ismail - Dunia - Where AI meets material discovery

Subscribe to the newsletter:New Wave | Hugo Rauch | Substack****🌊 When AI hits the atomWhy the future of materials discovery won’t be built on simulations alone.We’re joined by Ahmed Ismail, Co-founder & COO of Dunia, a Berlin-based deeptech company building AI- and robotics-powered systems to accelerate the discovery and scale-up of industrial breakthrough materials.In this episode, we dive into one of the biggest bottlenecks in climate and industrial innovation: materials discovery, and unpack why the real opportunity is not just asking AI to invent new formulas, but building the physical infrastructure to test, validate, and scale them.In our conversation, we covered:→ Why so many scientific breakthroughs still depend on serendipity — and how AI might increase the frequency of those “lucky” moments.→ The difference between AI-generated materials, simulation-first approaches, and autonomous industrial labs.→ Why the sim-to-real gap is the central challenge in AI for materials: what looks perfect on a computer often fails in a reactor.→ How Dunia built IRIS, an autonomous industrial lab designed to generate high-quality, device-level data for real-world applications.→ Why the future may belong to vertical, industry-specific AI systems — not one general “ChatGPT for materials.”AI for good. 🔥 This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit newwavenewsletter.substack.com

April 28, 202653 min

#90 - Carl-Magnus Norden - Decade Energy - Powering the next generation of trucks

Subscribe to the newsletter:New Wave | Hugo Rauch | Substack****🌊 Charging the TransitionWhy electric trucks won’t scale without rethinking energy infrastructureWe’re joined by a Carl-Magnus Norden, a veteran entrepreneur and founder of Decade Energy, previously behind Volta Trucks, one of Europe’s most ambitious electric truck startups.In this episode, we dive into why electrifying transport isn’t just a vehicle problem, it’s an energy system problem, and unpack what it really takes to build the infrastructure layer before the demand fully arrives.In our conversation, we covered:→ Why the “electric vs hydrogen” debate is effectively over for trucks→ Lessons from building (and losing) Volta Trucks, and why it still mattered→ Why trucking is a “big boys game” requiring massive upfront capital→ The real bottleneck: grid access, not vehicle technology→ Why depots are the key to scaling truck charging→ Decade’s strategy: secure power before trucks arrive→ Turning battery storage into revenue via grid services→ Europe vs China vs Tesla: who wins the electric truck race?→ Why resilience and energy independence are becoming critical drivers→ The long-term vision: software orchestrating trucks, batteries, and gridsAt the core: the transition won’t fail because of trucks, it will fail because of power.Let’s go electric! This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit newwavenewsletter.substack.com

April 21, 202648 min

#89 - Lea Strumberger - KfW Capital - The LP Perspective on Raising a Climate Fund

Subscribe to the newsletter:New Wave | Hugo Rauch | Substack****Thanks you, Morning for hosting the podcast this week. Get 20% off your next meeting room (in Paris), just say you’re coming from Hugo at New Wave.****🌊 Inside an LP’s MindWhat it really takes to raise climate-tech funds.We’re joined by Lea Strumberger, investor at KfW Capital, where she focuses on climate tech, impact, and deep tech investments.In this episode, we dive into how LPs actually make decisions, and unpack what it really takes to raise your second fund in today’s climate market.In our conversation, we covered:→ Why Fund II is a completely different game, and what LPs expect now→ The truth about DPI, TVPI, and what “performance” really means early on→ How to build trust with LPs (hint: it’s still a people business)→ The Series B funding gap in Europe, and why it’s still unresolved→ What climate sectors worked (energy), and where we got it wrong (food/alt protein)→ Why climate is no longer “impact”, but a real investment vertical✨ If you want to help this show, don’t forget to leave a review on Apple Podcasts or Spotify. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit newwavenewsletter.substack.com

April 19, 202641 min

#88 - Andy Lubershane - Energy Impact Partners - Energy Carriers and the Future of Fuel [5/5]

Subscribe to the newsletter:New Wave | Hugo Rauch | Substack****🌊 The Fuel Problem No One Talks AboutWhy replacing fossil fuels isn’t just about energy, it’s about how we carry it. We’re joined by Andy Lubershane, Partner at Energy Impact Partners and author of Steel For Fuel. In this episode, we dive into energy carriers, and unpack what it really takes to replace fossil fuels not just as energy sources, but as the backbone of global storage and transport.In our conversation, we covered:→ Why fossil fuels are two things at once: energy source + perfect carrier→ The uncomfortable truth about batteries (even lithium-ion)→ Why planes, ships, and global trade still have no real solution→ The limits of hydrogen — and why it may not scale as hoped→ Breakthrough storage: iron-air, thermal, and sodium-ion→ Metal fuels — the most radical (and promising) bet for global energy transportFossil fuels aren’t just powerful, they’re incredibly convenient. They store energy cheaply, move easily, and scale globally. Beating them requires more than incremental innovation. It requires something closer to a civilizational leap.This is episode five of a five part series. Subscribe to receive every episode. 👇 This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit newwavenewsletter.substack.com