Sectors · Why deeptech

Durable value is moving back to the physical world.

Deeptech creates lasting economic value when technology, industrial capabilities and investment align locally.

$63bn → $189bn

Global deeptech investment nearly tripled

2020 → 2025

15% → 32%

Deeptech’s share of European venture capital

2020 → 2025

−4%

Deeptech versus its 2021 peak, while the rest of tech remains −54%

Structural reallocation
Why now

Four forces are moving capital back to the physical world.

AI infrastructure, defence, sovereignty and selective exit markets are reinforcing the investment case for deeptech.

01

The AI race hits physical constraints

Before models, AI meets compute, infrastructure, materials and megawatts. Hardware creates moats that software features alone cannot sustain.

02

Defence has reopened

Defence-tech funding accelerated sharply in 2025, while dual-use technologies returned to the centre of European industrial strategy.

03

Sovereignty funds reshoring

The EU Chips Act, national AI plans and public investment are securing capabilities, materials and strategic supply chains.

04

Exit windows reopen selectively

Deeptech IPO value recovered strongly in 2025, rewarding companies that built durable technology and industrial positions.

From code to capability

The physical layer is where durable positions are being built.

The asset class

Resilient. Sovereign. Profitable.

Resilient

Tangible assets, patents, processes and equipment whose value can hold through economic cycles.

Sovereign

Capabilities aligned with the priorities of states, institutions and major industrial groups.

Profitable

Technological depth, barriers to entry and durable positions that compensate for longer cycles and deeper J-curves.

Deeptech is one of the few asset classes able to bring return, impact, safety and growth together.

How it is financed

Industrial projects demand more financial sophistication.

SaaS could often grow on equity alone. Deeptech combines several instruments within the same financing journey.

Grants & public instruments

Equity & venture capital

Venture debt

Project finance

IP-backed financing

Industrial partnerships

Blended finance

$5.6bn

Hardware venture debt in Europe in 2025.

Complexity is an advantage for those able to structure capital intelligently.
Territorial impact

Industrial capability compounds locally.

A qualified capability anchors jobs, supply networks, talent and R&D for decades.

×3–5

Local jobs per qualified industrial job

Non-relocatable effect

15–30 yrs

Of compounding after a capability lands

Supply chain · talent · R&D

€1bn+

For a single project’s final investment decision

Industrial scale

The remaining question is geographic: where these capabilities are built, and who captures what they create.

What qualifies as deeptech

Technologies rooted in scientific and engineering complexity.

Semiconductors & electronics

Advanced materials

AI & advanced computing

Robotics & automation

Photonics

Advanced manufacturing

Quantum technologies

Energy technologies

Cyber-physical systems

Industrial biotechnologies

High barriers to entry

Scientific and engineering depth that competitors cannot quickly replicate.

Durable advantage

Patents, processes and know-how that retain value across cycles.

Ecosystem & capital intensity

Dependence on supply chains, industrial partners and layered financing.

Connected sectors

Science becomes value through industrial ecosystems.

Where we work

Three domains where technology, capability and sovereignty meet.

Semiconductor value chain

Semiconductors & advanced computing

The compute layer behind AI, defence and industrial sovereignty.

Explore the sector ↗

Territorial transition

Port cities & blue economy

Where maritime industry, energy transition and coastal infrastructure converge.

Explore the sector ↗

Strategic resilience

Critical infrastructures

Energy, networks and systems on which resilience depends.

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Frequently asked questions

Frequently asked

Technologies rooted in scientific and engineering complexity that create long-term industrial and strategic capabilities.

AI infrastructure, sovereignty, defence and energy transition now require physical capabilities that cannot be replicated instantly.

Its tangible assets, patents, processes and barriers to entry can create durable positions, but returns depend on industrial execution and correctly structured capital.

Through layered combinations of equity, grants, debt, project finance, public instruments and industrial partnerships.

A qualified industrial capability anchors local jobs, talent, suppliers and R&D for fifteen to thirty years.

Because technology readiness alone does not ensure market adoption, industrial execution, value-chain alignment or access to suitable capital.

The next decision

The asset class question is settled. Where will the capability land?