Last week, Janne Vereijken moderated StarWatts, a high-impact event bringing together startups, corporates, and investors to accelerate Europe’s clean energy transition. The event took place at the iconic Maison de La Poste in Brussels, providing an inspiring setting for a day focused on innovation, collaboration, and tangible solutions to today’s energy challenges.
StarWatts is a joint initiative by Blue Cluster, Flux50, InnoEnergy, and Cluster TWEED. The program aims to connect innovative solution providers with corporate challengers and investors, fostering partnerships that can drive the next generation of energy technologies. This year’s edition brought together more than 30 startups from 13 countries, addressing 15 real-world energy challenges.
Driving conversations on europe’s strategic energy autonomy
Following a dynamic series of one-minute startup pitches, [Your Name] facilitated a panel discussion on Europe’s strategic autonomy in the energy sector. The discussion gathered leading experts from investment, research, industry, and public funding, including:
- Anne Vereecke – Wallonie Entreprendre
- Henri-François Boedt – European Investment Bank
- Wassim Nejjar – SET Ventures
- Randy Stiens – ENGIE Laborelec
- Joannes Laveyne – Ghent University
The panel explored how Europe can strengthen its energy independence in an increasingly complex geopolitical landscape. Topics ranged from digital sovereignty and infrastructure challenges to the importance of financing mechanisms and scaling breakthrough technologies. The discussion highlighted the crucial role of cross-sector collaboration in building a resilient and sustainable European energy system.
Insights from cleantech scale-up leadership
Another key moment of the event was a fireside interview conducted by [Your Name] with Valerie Dejaeghere, CEO of Qpinch, a cleantech scale-up specializing in transforming industrial waste heat into carbon-neutral energy.
During the conversation, Valerie shared her experience transitioning from a senior international career in the corporate energy sector to leading a fast-growing cleantech company. She discussed the challenges of scaling deep-tech innovation, the importance of customer-centric solutions, and the need to strengthen Europe’s cleantech ecosystem to support scale-ups in their growth journey.
Building the energy future together
Throughout the day, StarWatts demonstrated how collaboration between startups, corporates, investors, and research institutions is essential to accelerating the energy transition. By creating a platform where challenges and solutions meet, the event showcased the strength and ambition of Europe’s innovation ecosystem.
By guiding discussions, facilitating knowledge exchange, and connecting diverse stakeholders, Janne Vereijken contributed to creating an engaging and forward-looking dialogue around one of Europe’s most urgent challenges.
The overarching message of the event was clear: Europe’s sustainable energy future will be built through cooperation, innovation, and shared ambition.
Ook een inspirerende dagvoorzitter of spreker nodig?
Check de keynotes van Janne Vereijken. Als je event over een onderwerp op het gebied van strategie of innovatie gaat, kan Janne Vereijken ook de rol van dagvoorzitter of moderator vervullen.
