Vireo Ventures

Co-founder and Managing Partner at Vireo Ventures, focusing on energy efficiency and industrial electrification, investing in pre-seed and seed companies. Previously Managing Director at innogy Ventures leading venture activities for innogy SE, and earlier held M&A roles at RWE AG and Metzler Corporate Financing. He holds a Business Administration diploma from the Leipzig Graduate School of Management.

Mischa Wetzel blends Web 1.0 music entrepreneurship with energy and proptech expertise, serves as fund CFO overseeing deal execution and legal matters, and acts as hands-on operating partner and angel.

Sven Heiligtag spent two decades advising RWE and E.ON on decarbonization, helped create a multi-utility VC and advised utilities—offering founders an insider playbook for navigating corporate VCs.

Thomas Labryga combines energy M&A and venture experience—co-founder of IOM Advisory, former head of energy investments at a large utility's venture arm, and board member involved in Innogy SE's IPO.

Lou Arzur has worked across startups, venture capital, and legal roles. She started at JP Morgan in legal and risk, focusing on regulatory frameworks and compliance in investment banking, then served as Chief of Staff at two early-stage startups, supporting founders on fundraising, go-to-market, and product development. Her venture experience includes a Silicon Valley B2B SaaS fund and a watertech-focused VC in Amsterdam, and she holds an MBA from IESE in Barcelona.

Executive with 25 years of senior leadership experience across startups, scaleups, and corporates focused on strategy, operations, and growth to exit.

Finance, strategy, and venture capital professional with over 25 years of experience and deep knowledge of the Nordic sustainability ecosystem; advocates for including hardware in investment mandates.

Former climate and energy tech VC turned entrepreneur and advisor focused on the energy transition, particularly in Central and Eastern Europe, working with the European Commission and DG ENER.

Impact founder turned investor with 30 years of experience across e-commerce, SaaS, climatetech, and defencetech; founded one of North America's first waste-to-energy companies, acquired by a GE/AES joint venture in 2010.

Contact person for SFG's iCONTACT investor network.

Ryan Grant Little is Chair and Co-Founder of Invest in Bravery. He has designed and implemented accelerators for companies including Zalando, Booking.com, and a major FMCG company, and has advised foundations, corporates, and high-net-worth individuals on accelerator design and investment strategy. As a co-founder of CanadaHelps, a donations platform, and an energy-from-organic-waste company, he holds 25+ active climatetech angel investments and serves as a deal scout for three European funds.

Automotive and mobility executive with over 30 years of experience, including CEO of Opel, President of GM Europe, and CEO/MD of Tata Motors, plus numerous board roles; connects traditional automotive with new mobility technologies.

Impact entrepreneur and executive advisor across technology, energy, mobility, and sustainability; formerly on ChargePoint's executive team with prior senior roles at Uber, First Solar, and Daimler.

Automotive and mobility executive with over 30 years of experience, having held leadership roles at BMW, General Motors, Opel, Tata Motors, and served on boards including HELLA, Geely, and Volvo Cars.

Energy and grid industry executive with 30 years of experience in Continental and Eastern Europe; former EVP Eastern Europe of RWE/innogy and now Managing Partner of the DialogUngarn business network.

Katharina Beitz is Head of Investor Relations at Vireo Ventures, where she leads LP relations, fundraising, and the fund's positioning within the European energy tech ecosystem. She was previously the first communications hire at AENU, a €170M Article 9 climate tech fund, where she built its communications function across 40+ portfolio companies, and she has spent over a decade working across venture capital, media, and the energy transition, including as a former researcher at the Humboldt Institute for Internet and Society. She holds an MSc in Economics from ESCP Business School and a BA in Philosophy from Freie Universität Berlin.

Energy and digital infrastructure executive with 18 years of experience in Northern Europe; currently CEO of GlobalConnect Denmark and formerly MD of Ørsted's consumer business.

Energy and grid industry leader with 30 years of experience across Continental and Eastern Europe; former EVP Eastern Europe of RWE/innogy and now Managing Partner of business network DialogUngarn.

Sandro Michelmann is an associate at Vireo Ventures, which he joined in early 2023, sourcing companies in the firm's focus areas of energy, mobility, industry and building applications across Europe. He studied Philosophy at the University of Potsdam and Digital Business at XU Exponential University. Before Vireo, he worked in the real estate sector and on digital healthcare products.

Crispin Leick is Managing Director at EnBW New Ventures GmbH, where he leads a corporate venture capital fund investing in early-stage companies in the digital and sustainable energy sectors. He brings over 15 years of venture capital and energy industry experience, including previous roles at WINGAS, RWE Innogy, and REpower Systems, as well as founding Innogy Venture Capital, which completed 40 transactions across 12 portfolio companies. At EnBW New Ventures, his team has executed more than 65 transactions into 20 startups and 3 VC funds, with 5 realized exits.

Joined WEG in January 2023 with prior experience at KPMG, Pekao S.A., and JP Weber; a CFA charterholder passionate about climate tech and hardware ventures, serving on Artifex Mundi's supervisory board.