Internship Project
Start-Ups: Business Development and Strategy

Zeoloop – Sorption-Based Thermal Energy Storage for Waste Heat Recovery: Techno-Economics and Market Analysis

Institution
Science & Startups
Subject Area
Chemistry, Engineering & Technology, Economics & Business
Availability
03 May – 23 July
17 May – 06 August
31 May – 20 August
14 June – 03 September
 
Internship Modality:
On-site internship in Berlin
 
Project Supervisor(s)
Lena-Sophie Kuhr (Co-Founder & CEO)
Dries Gevers (Co-Founder & COO)
Anay Darekar (Co-Founder & CTO)
Academic Level
Advanced undergraduate students (from the second year)
Master’s students
Language
English; German (Just a plus, not a requiremen)
Further Information
Project Type
Start-Up
Project Content
Zeoloop is a Berlin-based deeptech startup developing sorption-based thermal energy storage solutions for industrial waste heat recovery.

The problem is simple. Industry pays twice for the same mismatch: energy is wasted when heat is produced and bought over again when it is needed, often from fossil sources. Zeoloop's design is built to close this gap by capturing waste heat, storing it chemically through a sorption reaction and releasing it according to demand. This decouples when heat is produced from when it is used, starting with heat-to-heat as the fastest path to deployment, followed by heat-to-cooling and heat-to-electricity.

Zeoloop is an early-stage, pre-revenue team of three co-founders, taking part in motionLab Berlin's Hardtech Innovation Program and supported by the Berliner Startup Stipendium. The current focus is on customer and expert discovery across sectors such as food and beverage, cement, mining and geothermal, alongside the design of a first industrial pilot. Interns would join at a stage where market understanding and economic validation are as important as the technology itself. Their work would feed directly into pilot design, customer conversations and the next funding preparation.

Tasks for Interns
The intern would support Zeoloop's techno-economic and market validation work, with concrete tasks agreed closer to the start date. Core activities include modeling the economics of sorption thermal storage, researching industrial waste heat sources and target sectors, and supporting customer and expert interviews. Work is carried out in close collaboration with the founding team and feeds directly into pilot planning.

Subject Areas and Working Fields:
  • Chemistry: Sorption chemistry for thermal energy utilization: using reversible adsorption and desorption in nanoporous materials to store industrial waste heat.
  • Engineering & Technology: System design for thermal energy storage: engineering a reactor and heat-integration setup that captures industrial waste heat and releases it on demand as heat or cooling.
  • Economics & Business: Techno-economic analysis and market entry: translating storage performance into payback period and cost per kWh for industrial customers.
  • Entrepreneurship / Start-up Development: Taking a deeptech thermal battery from lab concept to first industrial pilot: customer discovery, pilot design, and funding preparation as a pre-revenue Berlin startup.

Academic Level
Advanced undergraduate students (from the second year)
Master’s students
Requirements
  • The ideal candidate is studying engineering, chemistry, energy systems, economics, or a related field, with a genuine interest in industrial decarbonization and energy storage.
  • Experience with data analysis and modeling in Excel or Python is helpful, as is a basic understanding of thermodynamics or energy economics, though specific prior knowledge of sorption is not required.
  • Strong written and spoken English is expected, and German is a plus. 
  • Just as important are personal qualities: curiosity, independence, and the ability to structure open questions in a fast-moving early-stage environment. 
  • The candidate should communicate clearly and take ownership of their workstream.

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For more information on the Humboldt Internship Program or the project, please contact the program coordinator.