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▶ 17:00 · Advanced Manufacturing · Deep tech hardware scaling in Europe requires strategic industrial partners not just financial VCs
episode briefing
Scaling Europe

tozero built Europe’s first battery recycling plant: Sarah Fleischer & Ksenija Milicevic Neumann

2026-04-16 · 1 company · 3 thematic
sentiment
1 bull0 bear0 neu
speakers
sarah fleischer

Former space agency employee who met co-founder Ksenia in the space industry; planted the seed for battery recycling venture 3.5 years ago. Leads commercial strategy and fundraising.

now playing · Advanced Manufacturing
Energy & Power Generationtailwindscore 7/10ksenia milicevic neumann
EU 2031 battery regulation creates mandatory demand but tozero proves economics work without regulatory crutch
The EU Battery Regulation mandates >80% lithium recovery by 2031, but tozero demonstrates the unit economics are already viable today — customers are pre-signing contracts for local supply…
Critical Minerals & Supply Chaintailwindscore 8/10sarah fleischer
Battery recycling emerges as profitable local alternative to mining for European supply sovereignty
Recycling end-of-life batteries can produce lithium, graphite, nickel and cobalt at cost parity or below primary mining (especially Chinese sources), eliminating geopolitical logistics vola…
Advanced Manufacturingtailwindscore 7/10sarah fleischer
Deep tech hardware scaling in Europe requires strategic industrial partners not just financial VCs
tozero deliberately chose strategic investors Honda (automotive offtake) and JGC (plant engineering expertise having built 20,000 plants globally) over pure financial investors, recognizing…