Deep tech, or deep technology, is a category of advanced technologies that address the societal challenges as defined by the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals in the areas of healthcare, energy transition and sustainability, security and food.
The sector’s innovations can help in long-term sustainable economic success as well as create employment in the advanced high-tech manufacturing industry. However, due to the intrinsic complex nature of deep-tech venture-building, access to capital alone is not enough.
To address this, a new ‘unique’ fund, DeepTechXL, has been launched by a team of experienced VC entrepreneurs and tech corporates from the industry, regional & national investors, and Dutch research institutes. DeepTechXL Fund I aims for a minimum fund size of €100M.
The fund received a €9M loan from the Dutch government institute RVO (Rijksdienst voor Ondernemend Nederland), specifically allocated for early-stage Seed investments.
The new fund originated from HighTechXL, the deep-tech venture-builder supported by ASML, Philips, TNO and BOM. PME Pension Fund and Invest-NL will also invest in the fund. In addition to the industry sector and impact investors, Dutch family offices and the fund manager itself are also participating in the fund.
About DeepTechXL Fund I
Many deep-tech startups spend 50 per cent of their time raising early-stage funding, since many existing investors lack the knowledge to judge the technology’s potential for future business impact. As a result, each year dozens of promising deep-tech propositions remain unexplored in the Netherlands.
DeepTechXL Fund I looks to back such startups and scale-ups. It will provide access to knowledge, network, technology, licenses and business development support. Additionally, the fund will also support the startups in launching customers, finding partners in the supply chain, assisting in the entry of new markets, and scaling up manufacturing.
The fund expects to make approximately 20 early-stage Seed investments and 15 follow-on investments to finance growth and also looks to support throughout the lifecycle of ‘promising’ deep-tech ventures.
Industry partners
The new fund operates from the High Tech Campus Eindhoven in the middle of the Brainport high-tech ecosystem, which has a cluster of knowledge institutes, tech companies, supply chain partners, co-investors and hundreds of tech experts providing active support. The Brainport region is the tech hotspot of the Netherlands and northwest Europe.
DeepTechXL is a long-standing desire of regional investors and sector partners to provide leverage in creating sustainable, high value-add employment. Due to the involvement of leading tech companies, the initiative will also help attract entrepreneurial tech talent.
Peter Wennink, President and CEO, ASML, says, “Through continued investment in long-term innovation, ASML plays an active role in further strengthening the sustainable competitive edge of our unique Brainport ecosystem. The fact that DeepTechXL can intensively tap into the strong deep-tech knowledge base and experience in the region makes this initiative stand out. In this way, we are establishing the much-needed combination of access to knowledge, talent and finance for promising deep-tech startups and scale-ups in the Netherlands.”
