An article recently published online with the title “Europe needs more scientists in VC to become a deeptech powerhouse – Tech.eu” highlights the fact that the problem deep-tech startups are facing is still not widely understood. A good understanding of the problem a deep-tech startup addresses with its technology can be mediated by a better process within the startup (a significant part of our—TD Shepherd—work is to “format” a startup’s focus into a story the outside world can understand, connect with and “own”). Therefore, the real problem is not solved by bringing more scientists into the VC teams—they would quickly lose their skills and signify a loss to the engineering community. What the deep-tech startups do need are venture funds with a significantly longer lifetime and deeper pockets – it is as simple as that. The availability of sufficient venture capital over the lifetime of a deep-tech startup (for instance, a fabless semicon startup will, on average, exit after ten years and a total investment of € 50-60M). While the availability of seed/early-stage capital is becoming easier (although the amounts remain (significantly) lower as compared to the USA), the later-stage rounds are increasingly difficult for EU-based deep-tech startups. That is where the real problem is located, not the lack of scientists in the VC community.
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Generating infrared light isn’t difficult. But generating it on a chip — reliably, efficiently, and compactly — is a different story. Traditional IR sources rely on heating elements. They radiate across a wide range of wavelengths, consume significant power, and require filters to isolate the signals. Manageable in labs, unworkable in wearables.
Innovation tends to follow a familiar path: first, we invent something powerful. Then we shrink it. Only then does it become an everyday part of the infrastructure. But one layer is still missing in today’s technology: sensing beyond the visible.
The journey from concept to market looks very different in traditional tech compared to deep tech. While traditional tech benefits from streamlined processes and quicker iteration, deep tech ventures face longer, more complex cycles due to the groundbreaking nature of their innovations.