Igniting the Future: CIRQUEL at IESE Business School & Ignite Bootcamp
- Anna anna@beamberlin.com
- Aug 1
- 4 min read
How our Co-Founder Anna Warchalowska shared her entrepreneurial journey to inspire the next generation of sustainability leaders.
At CIRQUEL, we believe innovation begins with shared knowledge, collective inspiration, and real-world experience. That’s why we were deeply honoured to be represented by our Co-Founder and CEO, Anna Warchalowska, at the Ignite Bootcamp held at IESE Business School in Barcelona — an initiative dedicated to shaping the next wave of tech-driven sustainability ventures.
About the Ignite Bootcamp
The Ignite Bootcamp is an intensive 4-day programme hosted by IESE Business School in collaboration with EuroTeQ Engineering University, bringing together 23 engineering students from 8 top European institutions. Divided into eight project teams, participants were tasked with transforming bold sustainability innovations into real-world business solutions. Throughout the bootcamp, the students engaged with expert mentors, startup founders, and professors to refine their concepts, gain feedback, and prepare pitches for final presentation.
The goal? To accelerate student-led innovation in sustainability and equip aspiring founders with the mindset, tools, and networks to bring their ideas to market. This year’s jury and speaker lineup featured over 20 leading experts and entrepreneurs, including: Mauricio Prieto, Mª Julia Prats, Mathieu Carenzo, Alejandro Martí, PhD, Susan Hunt Stevens, and Carlos Homedes, among others.
Anna’s Journey: From Academia to Building CIRQUEL
Anna was invited to participate as one of the bootcamp’s speakers and panelists, where she delivered a powerful personal/motivational talk on the nonlinear path that led her to co-found CIRQUEL. Framing her journey with a guiding idea borrowed from Steve Jobs — “We can only connect the dots looking backwards” — Anna shared how diverse chapters of her career organically built the foundation for CIRQUEL today - Lecturing at Birkbeck University of London and mentoring students across the UK, Germany, and Spain, curating film festivals and chairing international jurie panels at research conferences and film festivals in Europe and Asia, launching her first startup - a global resale platform for vintage film and collectible vinyl, scaling to 12 people across 4 continents over 8 years. Later on building a sustainable yoga brand, offering eco accessories and B2B services for holistic studios across the EU, USA, UK, and Australia — born in the height of COVID. And finally transitioning to tech, Anna joined Beam - venture building studio in Berlin under patronage of BEUMER Group as an Entrepreneur in Residence.
It was during her time at Beam that CIRQUEL took shape.
Phase 1: Testing a travel-focused rental concept — eventually pivoted due to regulation challenges.
Phase 2: Helping to co-create a founder bootcamp at Beam, where Anna’s focus shifted from idea execution to ecosystem design.
Phase 3: CIRQUEL was born during this very bootcamp, where she met June Arrieta (now COO) and connected serendipitously later on with Carlos Blanco (now CTO) at a Barcelona startup - investor meetup.
Anna emphasized that CIRQUEL did not emerge from a single idea — it was the culmination of years of cross-disciplinary experience, strategic decisions, and authentic connections as well as enormous inspiration from Beam and of course her team - June and Carlos.
Presenting CIRQUEL’s Mission at the IESE Bootcamp
During the Ignite Bootcamp, Anna also introduced the work we’re doing at CIRQUEL — where AI-driven technology meets reverse logistics to support a more sustainable, efficient future for fashion.
CIRQUEL’s platform leverages AI-powered computer vision and anomaly detection, as well as quality forecasting systems, to help brands minimize the risks and costs associated with returns. Our tools identify fraudulent or inauthentic returns, reduce manual processing time, and enable intelligent decision-making around next steps for each item.
Whether dealing with unwanted returns, overstock, samples, or slightly damaged goods, our model allows brands to recapture value by seamlessly redirecting inventory to restock as fast as possible (if in the perfect state) or vetted resale and rental channels through a network of local partners. For brands in need of full operational support, we also offer logistics orchestration via our network of outsourced warehouses and 4PL providers, ensuring streamlined, localized handling that aligns with both sustainability and customer satisfaction goals, saving time and money for brands.
By marrying deep tech with circular business models, CIRQUEL empowers fashion brands to not only reduce waste but also build resilience and value in the post-sale ecosystem.
A Special Thanks
We’d like to extend our sincere gratitude to the Entrepreneurship and Innovation Center at IESE, and especially to Phuong Pham, Roger Singleton Escofet, PhD, and Mar Martinez, PhD for the invitation and flawless coordination.We also thank our incredible co-founders June Arrieta and Carlos Blanco, as well as our innovation partners at Beam, BIC GIPUZKOA, and the Consorci de la Zona Franca de Barcelona and their Logistics 4.0 Incubator, for supporting our mission every step of the way.
We were proud to take part in this inspiring initiative and look forward to continuing to empower future sustainability leaders!
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