Reactor – The Podcast for Deeptech & Climate Tech Mission-Driven Founders
Reactor is where ambitious founders and industry leaders share the real stories behind scaling deeptech & climate tech impact-driven companies. Hosted by Jérôme Gilleron, this podcast dives deep into the challenges, strategies, and breakthroughs that drive profitable and cashflow-positive growth in climate tech, deeptech, and sustainability.
Through candid interviews with startup founders, scale-up executives, and industry experts, we explore:
✅ How to scale mission-driven businesses without burning out
✅ Fundraising, sales, and growth strategies for impact startups
✅ Lessons from leaders who’ve built and scaled industry-defining companies
Whether you're a founder, investor, or operator in the climate tech and deeptech space, Reactor brings you actionable insights to fuel your growth.
🎧 Subscribe now and turn your vision into reality!
👉 Available on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, YouTube, and your favorite podcast platforms.
Reactor – The Podcast for Deeptech & Climate Tech Mission-Driven Founders
Reactor is where ambitious founders and industry leaders share the real stories behind scaling deeptech & climate tech impact-driven companies. Hosted by Jérôme Gilleron, this podcast dives deep into the challenges, strategies, and breakthroughs that drive profitable and cashflow-positive growth in climate tech, deeptech, and sustainability.
Through candid interviews with startup founders, scale-up executives, and industry experts, we explore:
✅ How to scale mission-driven businesses without burning out
✅ Fundraising, sales, and growth strategies for impact startups
✅ Lessons from leaders who’ve built and scaled industry-defining companies
Whether you're a founder, investor, or operator in the climate tech and deeptech space, Reactor brings you actionable insights to fuel your growth.
🎧 Subscribe now and turn your vision into reality!
👉 Available on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, YouTube, and your favorite podcast platforms.
Hello everyone! This is the second episode of series about Direct Air Capture describing Technology & Timing, Business Model & Scability (2nd post here) and finally the players (coming soon)
Capturing carbon from thin air costs $600–$1,000 per ton. So… how do direct air capture companies stay alive? In this upbeat explainer we unpack the surprisingly clever “money stack” behind DAC: corporate offtakes, U.S. tax credits (45Q), California fuel credits (LCFS), and a sprinkle of product sales. We also break down unit economics with simple math, profile the leading players, and get honest about risks (policy, power, MRV, capex).
If you’ve ever wondered who actually pays for carbon removal—and why smart companies like Microsoft or Amazon sign giant contracts—this one’s for you.
What you’ll learn
Mentioned / Resources
Key takeaways
He cleaned a lagoon… with bubbles
Meet Marino Morikawa, a Peruvian nanoscientist.
When his father called to say the lagoon of his childhood—El Cascajo—had become a dump, Marino left his lab in Japan and flew home.
Using ultra-fine nanobubbles (≈50–100 nm) made with hardware-store parts, he built a natural, chemical-free system that traps pollutants and bacteria:
Inject nanobubbles into the water
As they rise slowly, their ionic charge attracts contaminants
Biofilters with native microorganisms trap and break them down—no chemicals, no disruption to the ecosystem
Results:
✔️ In 13 months, the water was drinkable again
✔️ In 3 years, migratory birds returned
Today, Marino’s mission:
💧 Ultra-effective, low-cost decontamination with zero chemicals
🌍 Active projects at Lake Titicaca and desert oases affected by wastewater from 1.5M+ people
🌱 100 ecosystems restored by 2030, in partnership with local communities
This is deep climate tech in action: simple physics, local biology, real impact.
Would you deploy this in your city?
Credit Ecomedy for the story
This city ski slope heats and powers 150,000 people—by burning their trash.
It sits on top of Copenhagen’s waste-to-energy plant, CopenHill.
In the late 2000s, the city wanted to shut down coal but still had 440,000 tons of non-recyclable waste to deal with every year.
Instead of burying or exporting it, they turned it into energy.
The challenge: build an incinerator that’s clean, efficient, and embraced by locals.
Danish architects BIG—Bjarke Ingels Group proposed something radical: make it visible, fun, educational, and a true public place.
Enter CopenHill (opened 2017): a sharp, industrial building with high-performance filters to limit emissions.
On the roof: a 400 m ski slope, an 85 m climbing wall, hiking trails, and a 10,000 m² green roof.
It reflects Copenhagen’s ambition to lead on urban sustainability.
CopenHill doesn’t hide waste. It shows it, treats it, and transforms it.
Today, CopenHill =
♻️ 440,000 tons of waste transformed each year
🏠 Heat & power for 150,000 residents
🌱 A green roof, sports, and public space on top of an industrial plant
Would you ski on a power plant?
#climatetech #wastetoenergy #urbaninnovation #CopenHill #Copenhagen #BIG #architecture #sustainability #deeptech #Reactor
In Georgetown (USA), a full 3D-printed neighborhood is coming online—fast. Not a concept render: real homes, printed on-site, then finished with solar + smart energy controls.
3D printing cuts concrete use via optimized forms, reduces truck rolls, and accelerates near-zero waste builds. Pair with low-carbon mixes and rooftop PV to push toward net-positive neighborhoods.
🔔 Subscribe to Reactor for deeptech that scales climate impact.
💬 Would you live in a printed home? Tell us why—or what would make you say yes.
These giant meshes turn fog into drinking water—no pumps, no power. It’s CloudFisher, a system developed by the German NGO WasserStiftung that captures airborne moisture with technical plastic nets stretched into the wind.
How it works
Zero energy: wind + fog, no electricity required
Durable & recyclable: engineered to resist winds up to 120 km/h
Potable by design: collected water is filtered to WHO standards, then routed to public fountains or cisterns
Why it matters
In Morocco’s Anti-Atlas, a 1,674 m² installation produces ~36,800 L/day for 1,300 people across 5 villages
Each m² of net can harvest up to 22 L/day in foggy conditions
It taps the sky—not aquifers—so it doesn’t disrupt local water cycles
Old wisdom, modern scale
Inspired by centuries-old Andean and Amazigh practices of dew and fog collection—now upgraded with modern materials and deployment at community scale. Already active in 5+ countries.
If you’re building in climate & water:
What would it take to pilot this in your region?
Could schools, clinics, or shelters be first beneficiaries?
Pairing with storage, UV, or remote monitoring—who’s in?
🎥 Credit: EcoMedy for the field footage.
🔔 Subscribe to Reactor for more deeptech that drives real-world sustainability.
💬 Comment where you’d deploy CloudFisher next, and tag a partner we should talk to.
👋 Imagine a giant vacuum cleaner — but instead of dust, it’s pulling carbon dioxide straight out of the sky.
It’s called Direct Air Capture (DAC), and it’s no longer science fiction. Real plants are running today in Iceland, Texas, and California.
In this episode of Reactor, we break down:
🌬️ How Direct Air Capture actually works — step by step
🧪 The four main DAC technologies (solids, liquids, minerals, electrochemicals)
⚡ Why DAC is only possible now (cheap renewables, better materials, policy, corporate buyers)
📉 The scalability challenge — costs, energy appetite, storage, and risks
🌍 Where the first plants are already running (Climeworks, Heirloom, 1PointFive)
This is Part 1 of a 3-part DAC series:
1️⃣ How DAC Works (and Why Now) ← this video
2️⃣ How DAC Companies Make Money (coming soon)
3️⃣ The DAC Field Guide: Startups & Scaleups
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🔑 Key Takeaways
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📚 Resources & Links
👉 Climeworks Mammoth plant: https://climeworks.com/technology
👉 Carbon Engineering explainer: [https://carbonengineering.com/our-tec...](https://carbonengineering.com/our-tec...)
👉 Heirloom DAC tech: https://heirloomcarbon.com/technology
👉 Carbfix CO₂ mineralization: [https://www.carbfix.com/how-it-works](
💧☀️ In Australia, 1 trillion litres of water vanish every year — lost to evaporation.
But what if the solution was simple… and powerful?
Floating solar panels are changing the game.
They shade reservoirs, cutting water evaporation by up to 50%, *while also generating clean electricity*. Even better, the cool water underneath helps the panels work more efficiently than land-based solar farms.
That means:
✅ Saving billions of litres of water every year
✅ Powering homes, farms, and even hydrogen facilities
✅ Fighting drought and climate change at the same time
From one brilliant idea comes two big solutions: more water + more clean energy.
Because sustainability doesn’t have to be complicated. It just needs the right ideas in the right places. 🌍✨
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🔔 Subscribe for more stories on deeptech & climate tech innovations!
#FloatingSolar #CleanEnergy #Australia #ClimateTech #WaterInnovation #Sustainability
From the ice rink to the fight against climate change.
Brent Story once wore the jersey for Team Canada in hockey. Now he’s leading EmitiQ — a company making sustainability simpler for businesses around the world.
Instead of endless reports and confusing rules, EmitiQ helps companies:
✔️ Measure emissions automatically
✔️ Follow climate rules correctly
✔️ Work with suppliers to cut carbon at the source
Because climate action shouldn’t be complicated — it should be possible.
👉 Watch how one athlete turned innovator is making climate action simple.
emitiq.com
#ClimateTech #Sustainability #DeepTech #Storytelling
Are you building cutting-edge tech… but struggling to land your first customers?
This video is for YOU.
Whether you’re in deeptech, climate tech, or any science-based venture, I’ll walk you through 6 actionable sales strategies to help you go from prototype to paying customers — faster.
👇 What we’ll cover:
0:00 Intro — Why deeptech sales are hard
1:50 Tip 1: Founder-Led Sales from Day One
7:15 Tip 2: Sell the Vision, Not the Features
13:50 Tip 3: Evangelize Your Mission Every Day
19:35 Tip 4: Track Your Sales Funnel Like a Scientist
25:20 Tip 5: Prospect Daily – Never Stop Filling the Funnel
31:00 Tip 6: Embrace the CEO Role – Sell, Don’t Build
37:00 Bonus Q&A & Action Plan
🧠 What you’ll learn:
How to sell your tech before it’s even ready
Why YOU (the founder) need to be the first salesperson
How to get customers excited about a complex product
What metrics to track (and how) to close more deals
Why consistency in outreach is more important than perfection
When to stop building and start selling
💥 Who this is for:
Deeptech startup founders
Climate tech entrepreneurs
Academic spinouts
Technical CEOs learning to sell
Founders stuck at zero revenue
🧪 Why me?
I’ve launched a deeptech company, led a startup accelerator, and coached dozens of founders through early sales and survival. I’ve made every mistake so you don’t have to. This is the playbook I wish I had 10 years ago.
📌 Subscribe to REACTOR for more content like this:
/ @reactor-podcast
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https://reactortech.substack.com/
📸 Follow on Instagram & TikTok for daily stories:
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/ reactorpodcast
#deeptech #climatetech #startups #b2bsales
What if tomorrow’s clean energy came from yesterday’s nuclear waste? In this episode, we explore Hexana, a French deep tech startup developing a next-generation small modular reactor (SMR) designed to decarbonize heavy industries like steel, chemicals, and even green hydrogen production.
Hexana’s sodium-cooled fast reactor doesn’t just generate high-temperature heat and clean electricity—it also burns nuclear waste, including depleted uranium and recycled plutonium, dramatically reducing high-level waste while extracting far more energy. Their SMR design revives France’s proven Phoenix and Superphénix technology in a modular, factory-scalable form, with a smart twist: a built-in thermal battery to store heat and balance grid or industrial demand.
Founded in 2023 as a spinout from France’s CEA atomic research lab, Hexana’s team of 40 engineers is bringing decades of nuclear expertise to life in a product that could fundamentally reshape how industry is powered.
Tune in to discover how Hexana plans to turn legacy waste into a low-carbon, high-impact energy source—and why this isn’t just sci-fi, but a credible clean energy contender.
5G from Space: How Constellation Is Connecting the Disconnected
What if you could stream Netflix from the middle of the Sahara—thanks to 5G from space? In this episode, we explore the bold vision of Constellation Technologies, a Paris-based startup building a low-orbit satellite network to deliver fiber-like 5G speeds anywhere on Earth.
Founded by former World Black engineer Charles Delfieux, Constellation is launching tiny satellites in very low Earth orbit (VLEO) to bring fast, reliable, and sustainable internet to remote villages, ships, farms, and more. Their satellites offer speeds up to 150 Mbps down, 50 Mbps up, and under 30ms latency—all while reducing space junk and using recycled 5G components to cut costs.
What’s revolutionary is their telco-friendly model: instead of competing with telecom giants, Constellation partners with them—offering bandwidth and terminals that carriers like Orange or AT&T can resell, turning space into an extension of existing networks.
Tune in to hear how this sci-fi sounding mission is becoming a reality, and why space might just be the key to true global connectivity.
Drones That Defy Physics: Inside Aerix’s Omnidirectional Revolution
What if a drone could flip upside down, spin in place, and hold steady in a 100 km/h storm? In this episode, we explore the mind-blowing innovation of Aerix Systems, a French deep tech startup founded in 2020 by two engineering students in Gironde.
Aerix has developed the world’s first omnidirectional propulsion system—think drone engines mounted on gimbals that let it thrust in any direction. Their modular platform, the M1, can reach 200 km/h in 2.5 seconds, carry up to 10 kg, and maintain stability even in extreme weather. It's not just for aerial stunts—Aerix is targeting real-world applications in energy, construction, and defense, like inspecting wind turbines during storms or intercepting rogue drones from kilometers away.
Co-founders Clément Picaud and Hugo Mayounove have built not just drones, but plug-and-play aerial robots with full computing, sensor payloads, and autonomous navigation—making Aerix a true leap forward in drone agility and versatility.
Tune in to discover how Aerix is pushing the boundaries of flight and redefining what drones can do.
In this episode, we dive into the story of e-Taranis, a French cleantech startup based in the Basque Country that's aiming to democratize wind power for everyday households. Their innovation, Alaé, is a compact, ultra-quiet, and eco-friendly wind turbine designed specifically for urban and suburban homes.
Unlike traditional turbines, Alaé starts producing clean energy at wind speeds as low as 10 km/h, making it practical even in less windy regions. It’s built with 97% recyclable materials, blends into the environment with minimal visual impact, and is a big step forward in sustainable, local energy production.
e-Taranis isn’t just selling wind turbines—they’re promoting a personal energy revolution, empowering individuals to reduce their carbon footprint while gaining energy independence.
Tune in to hear how design, sustainability, and local innovation come together in this inspiring deep tech story.
Purifying the Planet with Chemistry: The Exposome Story
In this episode, we explore the story of Exposome, a rising cleantech startup based in Mumbai. Founded in 2020 by Prerna Santaliagoradiya, Exposome is pioneering the use of smart materials and molecular chemistry to clean industrial air and water. Their breakthrough products—like PureSafe and PureAnion—are tackling pollutants at the source, serving industries from oil & gas to pharmaceuticals and renewables.
We also delve into Exposome’s recent €1.2 million pre-Series A raise, led by Colossal Ventures, a woman-focused VC, and backed by 3i Partners, Ruhat Rati, and others. With over 100 clients and real-world impact already visible, Exposome is positioning itself at the frontier of climate tech innovation.
Tune in for a story of science, sustainability, and scale—and why this startup is one to watch.
An Interview with Amélie Campino, Co-Founder & CEO of Nix Air Solutions
Welcome to this edition of Reactor, where we dive deep into the intersection of cutting-edge technology and sustainable impact. Today, we explore the inspiring journey of Amélie Campino, a trailblazer who is harnessing IoT and data analytics to transform animal tracking—and ultimately, wildlife conservation.
But wait, if you want to go further with Reactor:
A Mission Born from Passion and Purpose
At Nix Air Solutions, every innovation is fuelled by a genuine commitment to protecting biodiversity. Amélie and her team are developing connected tracking collars and a state-of-the-art data platform that empower agricultural and conservation professionals with precise, real-time insights into animal behavior and environmental trends. The mission? To ensure that even when human field missions are challenged, technology stands ready to safeguard our natural heritage.
To block a meeting with Amelie: https://meetings-eu1.hubspot.com/amelie-campino To visit the company website: https://www.nix-iot.com/en where you can contact the team
Reflecting on her diverse background—ranging from strategic consulting in the public sector to hands-on entrepreneurship—Amélie explains that her passion for conservation was ignited by firsthand experiences of nature’s fragile beauty. This transformative insight led her to create Nix, a company that embodies a proactive approach to ecological stewardship by merging technology with a clear, purposeful agenda.
Key Takeaways
Watch the episode here:
Dive Deeper
For those captivated by Amélie’s story and the bold convergence of technology and conservation, Reactor invites you to explore further. Discover how disruptive startups like Nix are setting
If you want to go further:
Dive deep by clicking below:
https://lnkd.in/edQqQwZx
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In 1 minute:
Read the complete newsletter here:
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In 30 seconds:
Read the details here: https://reactortech.substack.com/p/get-funded-find-advisors-and-scale
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Expanding to the U.S. is every ambitious European founder’s dream—but most burn cash, stall deals, and underestimate the market.
In this episode of Reactor, I sit down with Christina Rebuffet-Broadus, U.S. growth expert and CEO of Transatlantia, to break down the exact strategies European startups need to scale, sell, and thrive in America.
💡 What you’ll learn in this episode:
✅ Why copy-pasting your European strategy to the U.S. is a recipe for failure
✅ The biggest mindset shift European founders must make to land 7-figure deals
✅ How to sell deeptech & climate tech in a market that moves faster than Europe
✅ The CEO agenda test: Are you really prioritizing growth?
✅ Why most U.S. expansions fail—and how to fix yours before it’s too late
🚀 If you’re a tech founder going global, this episode is your cheat code.
🔗 Listen & Subscribe:
📺 Watch on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@Reactor-podcast
📩 Read the full breakdown in the newsletter: https://reactortech.substack.com/
💬 Thinking about U.S. expansion? What’s your biggest challenge? Drop it in the comments!
#ReactorPodcast #USExpansion #Deeptech #Startups #Growth #ClimateTech #Sales
This week’s Reactor Newsletter is packed with insights into deeptech, VC funding, and climate innovation. Let’s dive in!
But wait, if you want to go further:
This week’s top insights:
That’s it for this week’s deeptech & climate tech update!
📩 Want more insights? Subscribe to the Reactor Newsletter: reactortech.substack.com
🎥 Watch this episode on YouTube & subscribe for more deeptech content: youtube.com/@Reactor-podcast
💬 What was the most exciting news for you this week? Let me know in the comments!
See you next time for another edition of Reactor!