Over the last 5 to 7 years, we have seen more and more startups that have defined their ambition based on an earlier exit point as compared to most Deep-Tech startups.
Rather than setting their ambition goals on a certain market share and a revenue target, they set their ambition on being high-volume (HV) ready and, at that point, find a suitable “mothership”. There are several reasons why this strategy is seeing more adopters. Most important is the lengthy path for a Deep-Tech startup to reach that “market share” objective. That path might take 8-10 and sometimes 12 years with a high number of venture rounds which dilutes their original ownership to a thin percentage. Markets might change, the venture capital scene might change, etc. Therefore, planning for a 3-5 year path to bring a product to the high-volume marker and at the same time looking for a suitable acquirer where the product would fit with the acquirer’s marketing and sales organization not only secures a much faster exit but also a more secure one. Despite the obvious lower valuation, founders hold a much larger percentage of the company’s outstanding share capital.
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Many founders underestimate how different deep tech fundraising really is. Deep tech funding rounds don’t follow the same rules as software funding rounds. These rounds take more time, they are larger, and are validation-driven due to long-lasting R&D cycles and capital intensity. Imagine that each round answers the question, then what question would it be?
Early exits are named as such because the exit constitutes an interruption of the regular venture path. There are several paths to an early exit, some organized, some happen by coincidence. For startups, it is important to have a clear focus on the path forward and, based on the technology and product it is developing, to understand the startup’s value path.
TD Shepherd congratulates Keiron Printing Technologies on successful raising Series A round led by Invest-NL. Keiron Printing Technologies B.V. (Eindhoven) commercializes a laser-induced forward transfer (LIFT) platform for solder paste deposition in electronics assembly.