Good morning {{first_name}},
This week’s Deep Tech Now puts the spotlight on Europe’s top 5 open innovation programmes for energy startups — and brings you an exceptional ecosystem gift that will make you want to scroll all the way down.
First up though, a fresh CVC-focused Q&A with STIHL Ventures’ managing director Benjamin Junghans — and 5 reasons to pay attention:
Market Leader: STIHL is the world's best-selling chainsaw brand
Innovation Engine: CVC arm STIHL Ventures backs cutting-edge teams (pun intended!)
Strategic Focus: A key partner and backer for startups in:
Smart Forestry
Advanced Gardening & Landscaping
Agriculture Technology
Construction Technology
Sustainability
Leadership: Benjamin Junghans sees startup collaborations are a core capability of the innovation architecture to stay globally competitive
Next Opportunity: Meet the team at ZEISS Ventures Day on September 23, 2025
Check out our inaugural Q&A below — and find out more about the leading utility companies collaborating with startups to make the energy transition a reality.
VENTURE CLIENTING CHRONICLES
Benjamin Junghans — Managing Director, Startup Investments And Partnerships — STIHL Ventures
In which Deep Tech fields are you actively seeking startup collaborations?
Benjamin Junghans: On one side, outdoor robotics — it's definitely worth for STIHL to explore with startups, especially for outdoor equipment and automation.
On the other side, it's AI that we are exploring to make our processes faster, better, and cheaper.
Which three startup teams have inspired you most in the last year and why?
Neura Robotics — “We’re super excited to use the robots in the factory and very impressed by the bold move that’s been done here.”
PlanCraft — “One of our biggest target groups is landscaping companies, and they are not digitised at all. [PlanCraft] made a system to run their business in their pocket.”
INERATEC — “It focuses on e-fuels and sustainable aviation, and I’m a fan of how it is successfully moving forward even with a high capital need.”
How do you usually identify and select promising startup partners?
We connect a lot with the industry — with VCs but also with colleagues from other corporate venture clienting units. That’s one major source for good reference points from the network.
We also identify challenges within our organisation and go out to databases or our network, or attend conferences to directly ask and search for startups that can solve the challenge.
We definitely make sure to qualify startups in terms of traction, reference customers, and if their sales team is professional enough to convince our people here.
What do you think helps most in moving from POC to a commercial partnership?
A lot lies in how you set up the POC and the business case behind it.
If you have a POC tailored on a small scale and prove it brings great ROI, there’s no question about commercialising the product. This often applies to products that improve the organisation.
If you’re working on a joint product or co-developing, which takes years, it is crucial to have a trusted, open relationship and a moderator like the venture client or venture unit to help both parties understand each other.
DEEP TECH OPEN | ENERGY
5 Top Corporate-Backed Energy Accelerators and Open Innovation Programmes
Promoters: Enel
Location: Multiple hubs and labs around the world
Focus areas: Energy storage; renewables; mobility; smart grids, home and cities
Sweet spot: Startups that have raised money and have a working prototype
Next steps: Check out open challenges or propose a new project
Promoters: Associated British Ports (ABP) in partnership with Plug and Play
Location: Hybrid
Duration: One year
Focus areas: Floating offshore wind, industrial decarbonisation, low carbon fuels, CCS
Sweet spot: Series A and B stage startups
Next steps: Find out more
Promoters: Leading energy utilities including ESB, EDP and E.ON
Location: Hybrid
Duration: One year
Focus areas: Renewables, energy management, and others; find out more here
Sweet spot: Startups that have raised money and have a working prototype
Next steps: Applications for the 2026 edition of Free Electrons will open soon
Promoters: Snaminnova, the open innovation programme by Snam
Location: Hybrid
Duration: Variable; additional four-month validation phase for winners
Focus areas: Hydrogen and related areas
Perks: Access to Decarbonisation Research Centre and testing facilities of European project H2 SHIFT
Next steps: Stay tuned for upcoming Call4Startup and challenges
Promoters: TotalEnergies
Location: Station F in Paris, France; but no relocation required
Duration: 6 months
Focus areas: Renewable power generation, energy storage, distributed energy management, power trading, power retail, electric mobility
Sweet spot: Startups with an MVP
Next steps: 6th cohort started this September, stay tuned for next one
ECOSYSTEM GIFT
20 Minutes of Mentorship With Brad Feld
This week’s ecosystem gift comes from none other than Brad Feld, one of the most respected figures in the startup and venture capital community.
You may know Brad as the author of ‘Venture Deals’ — the definitive guide to understanding VC; but this opportunity is actually inspired by his most recent book, ‘Give First: The Power of Mentorship’.
In that very spirit, Brad is making himself available for a 20-minute founder-focused chat with one of our readers. Click here, and that could be you.
Last Week’s Winner: Last week’s gift sparked an amazing response. So many of you want to rock Deep Tech Renaissance swag that we went from one hoodie to three – first come, first served. Congrats to the winners who wrote in just a couple minutes after the email was delivered: Martin Pionteck, Stefan Zetzsch, and Robin Allert. We’ll be in touch soon to ship your prizes!
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