<p>Join us as Sarah Fleischer, co-founder and CEO of tozero, shares how she is building one of Europe’s most innovative deep tech companies focused on lithium-ion battery recycling and critical materials recovery. From her early beginnings in the space industry to launching a company designed to reduce global dependence on imported materials, Sarah opens up about the mission, science, and scale behind tozero.In this episode, Sarah reveals how a breakthrough developed by her co-founder sparked the creation of tozero, why Munich has become a hub for world-class engineering talent, and how lithium and graphite can be recovered cleanly, efficiently, and at industrial scale. She also discusses the realities of fundraising, building a global investor base, and the role of mentorship and serendipity in shaping a founder's journey.<strong>🔑 KEY HIGHLIGHTS</strong><strong>THE ORIGIN OF TOZERO</strong>How a scientific breakthrough, a napkin pact, and a shared vision led to one of Europe’s fastest-growing deep tech startups.<strong>A CLEANER WAY TO RECOVER CRITICAL MATERIALS</strong>Sarah explains how tozero’s water-based process extracts lithium and graphite with high efficiency and at a cost competitive with mining.<strong>WHY MUNICH</strong>Why Munich’s engineering talent and deep tech ecosystem make it the ideal base for scaling a hardware company.<strong>BUILDING MATERIAL INDEPENDENCE</strong>How Europe can reduce its reliance on imported lithium and graphite and strengthen its supply chain resilience.<strong>THE REAL FOUNDER JOURNEY</strong>Sarah shares the ups and downs of deep tech entrepreneurship, mentorship, teamwork, and taking risks that shift entire industries.<strong>🌐 RESOURCES AND LINKS</strong>Learn more about tozero: tozero.solutionsConnect with Sarah Fleischer on LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/sarahfleischerPodcast Website: foundersecretspod.com<strong>🔗 CONNECT WITH US ON SOCIAL MEDIA</strong>Instagram: @foundersecretspodLinkedIn: founder-secrets-podcast<strong>🎧 LISTEN TO THE PODCAST</strong>Apple Podcasts: tinyurl.com/4h59tyerSpotify: tinyurl.com/4wjb26v8<strong>🔔 DON’T FORGET TO SUBSCRIBE</strong>Enjoyed this episode? LIKE, COMMENT, and SUBSCRIBE for more inspiring founder stories from around the world.</p>