Deeptech investors
Deeptech investors back companies whose product depends on an advance in science or engineering: new materials, semiconductors, robotics, quantum computing, space, synthetic biology and the like. The technical risk comes before the market risk, and the timelines are long.
The firms on this list name deeptech or frontier technology as a focus on their own website. Many were founded by scientists or engineers and bring technical diligence that generalist firms do not. Each cites its own site as the source for what is written here.
Founded in 2020 by brothers Ammar and Mohammed (Mo) Amdani, Adapt Ventures operates as a boutique early-stage venture firm and venture studio. The firm is known for its highly…
Alpha Wave is an investment company that has three main verticals; private equity, private credit, and public markets. The objective of the private equity partnerships is to invest in…
Draper Associates is a Silicon Valley venture capital firm founded in 1985 by Tim Draper. The firm has more than 40 years of experience backing transformative technology companies…
Goanna Capital focused on private companies in the global Internet, software, consumer, and financial technology industries. The company manages a large pool of discretionary capital…
International Blockchain Consulting, also known as IBC Group, is a venture capital firm and global consulting agency founded in 2017. Headquartered in London, United Kingdom, the firm…
KBW Ventures is an asset management company focusing exclusively on venture capital, value creation, and growth equity. It targets direct investments in some of the world's most…
One Way Ventures is a venture capital firm that backs exceptional immigrant founders. The firm engages with early-stage startups and invites founders who are starting up to pitch…
Portal Ventures is a fundamentals-driven early-stage crypto investment firm. The firm focuses on making investments in the cryptocurrency sector, emphasizing rigorous analysis and…
Presight Capital is a venture capital firm investing in the most ambitious founders across sectors, stages, and geographies. Presight takes a global approach to early-stage…
Primitive Ventures is a crypto venture firm led by industry veteran Dovey Wan. The firm believes that crypto represents a new socioeconomic primitive that will redefine individual…
Protagonist is an investment firm that invests in ambitious founders and startups. It highlights portfolio companies and financing rounds, including pre-seed and seed-stage deals in…
Robot Ventures is a (pre-)seed investor in exceptional fintech and blockchain companies led by founders with big ambitions, and contrarian worldviews.
TA Ventures is a venture capital firm that invests in ambitious early-stage technology startups. The firm focuses on sectors including HealthTech, FinTech, B2B software, and other…
10x Founders is a network-driven investor backed by over 200 entrepreneurs and angels. The founding partners (Andreas Etten, Andrej Henkler, Claudius Jablonka, Felix Haas, Jan Becker…
212 invests in growth-stage tech companies across Turkey, CEE, and MENA. Currently, our fund manages €75 million of committed capital, and 25 investments. Our strategy is to invest in…
Founded in 2020 by former Rocket Internet executives Alexander Kudlich and Ludwig Ensthaler, alongside Mesosphere founder Florian Leibert, 468 Capital bridges the European and US tech…
4DX Ventures is a technology-focused investment firm active across Africa. The firm highlights more than 10 years of track record, over 50 portfolio companies, and operations in more…
500 Global is a multi-stage venture capital firm with US$2.4 billion in assets under management that invests in founders building fast-growing technology companies. We focus on…
Afore Capital was founded in 2016 by Gaurav Jain and Anamitra Banerji to institutionalize "pre-seed" investing at a time when the category was still nascent. They saw a gap in the…
Founded in 2013, AgFunder is a digitally-native venture capital firm that operates at the intersection of capital, media, and technology. They leverage their globally recognized media…
Founded in 2015 by Lei (Renee) Li, Alpha Square Group (ASG) began as a single-family office and officially transitioned to a Registered Investment Advisor (RIA) in 2020. The firm…
Established in 2013 by the Mærsk family, A.P. Moller Holding acts as the investment arm of the A.P. Moller Foundation. It was created to safeguard the long-term viability of the…
Founded in 2017 by Andrew Sugrue and Jamie Reynolds, Avenir Growth Capital is a private investment firm focused on scaling technology-enabled businesses. The firm operates with the…
Bain Capital Ventures (BCV) operates as the venture capital division of Bain Capital, one of the world's largest private multi-asset investment firms. Established in 2001, BCV focuses…
What deeptech investors look for
A real technical advance.
Something that was not possible before, shown to work in a lab, a prototype or a publication. Investors will test the claim with their own experts.
A path from lab to product.
The distance between a demonstration and a thing a customer can buy, in years and money. The team should know each step and what could stop it.
Intellectual property.
Patents, licences from a university or research institute, and know-how that competitors cannot easily reproduce. Investors will ask who owns what.
A customer at the end.
Deeptech companies can spend years building before they sell. Investors want a specific market, a named kind of buyer and a reason that buyer pays enough to justify the journey.
A team that can build a company as well as the technology.
Scientific founders often pair with an operator. Investors look for that pairing, or for evidence that the founders can make it themselves.
Raising in deeptech
Deeptech rounds are milestone-driven. Each round funds the technical step that removes the next risk, and investors size the round to that step. Founders should know which milestone this round buys and what it makes possible.
Have ready: the technical evidence and its limits, the intellectual property position, the development plan with cost and time per milestone, the target market and its buyers, and the grants or non-dilutive funding the company has secured or can secure.
Government grants, research contracts and university programmes fund a large share of early deeptech. Investors expect founders to use them and will ask what has been applied for.
Questions
What counts as deeptech?
A company whose main risk is whether the technology can be built, rather than whether customers will buy it. Materials, hardware, biology, energy and computing companies usually qualify.
How long do deeptech companies take?
Often a decade or more from founding to scale. Investors in the sector structure their funds for it, and founders should choose investors who have.
Do deeptech investors fund university spinouts?
Many focus on them. The terms the university takes and the licence it grants are a major part of diligence, and negotiating them well before raising makes the round easier.
Can a deeptech company raise without revenue?
Yes, and most do for several rounds. The evidence is technical progress against milestones rather than sales, and investors track that progress closely.
What is non-dilutive funding?
Money that does not take equity: grants, research contracts, prizes and some government programmes. Deeptech investors expect companies to pursue it, and a track record of winning it is a positive signal.
Deeptech investors by country
Deeptech investors by city
Deeptech investors by stage