Deep technologies disrupt and transform various industries, such as healthcare, finance, manufacturing, and transportation. AI is used to develop new drugs and treatments, improve fraud detection, and automate factory tasks. Robotics and automation are being used to improve efficiency and productivity in manufacturing and logistics. Advanced materials are being used to develop new products with enhanced properties like strength, durability, and weight. Quantum computing can potentially transform drug discovery, materials science, and finance.
Deep tech startups are changing the industry landscape with better and more efficient innovative solutions. Although deep tech provides significant benefits such as performance, efficiency, and cost, they are complex and expensive to develop. On average, a median deep tech startup requires up to $115 million and 5.2 years to turn into a unicorn.
Venture capitalists hold significant unspent funds from 2022 and seek to invest in deep tech startups with realistic valuations and reliable products. This trend is encouraging for deep tech founders seeking funding in 2023.
SOSV is a global venture capital firm based in Princeton, New Jersey. It offers multi-stage investment, starting with pre-seed startup building programs for deep tech founders. Their startup development programs include HAX (hard tech), IndieBio (human and planetary health), and Orbit Startups (growth in emerging and frontier markets). Their investment range is $500,000 to $4 million.
With over $1.5 billion in assets under management (AUM) and seven unicorn companies, SOSV helps startups to grow faster. SOSV portfolio companies raised $2.0 billion in 2022. There are over 300 investments in SOSV per year, including 100+ pre-seed rounds in new startups, which has made it the most active deep tech venture investor in the world. NotCo, R-Zero Systems, and OpenTrons are some popular SOSV portfolio companies.
Alumni Ventures Deep Tech Fund is a diversified portfolio of deep tech investments based in Manchester, New Hampshire. Their investment ranges from $1 million to $30 million. Alumni Ventures invests in entrepreneurial companies capable of resolving significant challenges associated with deep technologies. They make 15-20 venture investments each month. They reserve over 20% of the total funds to pursue follow-on opportunities in the most promising portfolio investments.
With more than 1,000 portfolio companies, Alumni Ventures has raised more than $1 billion in funds. Some of their notable portfolio companies include Almanac Labs, Beekin, OLIO, and Quantum Machines.
Based in Washington, D.C. Ventures is an early-stage venture capital and startup advisory firm. Their investment ranges between $10,000 to $100,000. D.C. Ventures offers a combination of capital, mentorship, and advisory services, helping startup founders conceptualize, build, and grow their businesses in designated markets. Their areas of interest include fintech, e-commerce, online media, experience economy, social media platforms, and Internet of Things (IoT). EMIA, RLL Esports, Walden, and the Bubble are some of D.C. Ventures’ portfolio companies.
In New York, ff Venture Capital is one of the best-performing seed and early-stage venture capital firms. As of January 2023, they had an active portfolio of 95+ companies, creating over $14 billion in market capitalization value. They invest in emerging industries such as enterprise software, FinTech, Applied A.I., proprietary technology, drones, and robotics. The investment range of ff V.C. is between $300,000–$700,000. Being partners with founders, ff V.C. has an active management approach. This helps them to build high-value, market-moving companies.
Lux Capital is a deep tech venture capital firm based in New York. They have an investment range between $100,000 to $100 million. Deep tech startups that revolve around data science, chemistry, neuroscience, economics, electrical engineering, and machine learning can contact Lux Capital for initial funding. Lux has expanded to Silicon Valley with over $5 billion AUM. Airmap, Aeva, Eikon Therapeutics, and Light Form are some companies under the Lux Capital portfolio.
Florida-based Ocean Azul Partners is an early-stage venture capital investment firm. The investment firm specializes in Seed and Series A rounds for companies showing initial traction and needing capital for sales, development, and team expansion.
Ocean Azul Partners invests $200K-$2M initially, reserving funds for follow-ups, actively engaging in their investments, and holding board seats. They focus on B2B software and deep tech across various sectors, requiring an MVP-level product with paying or pilot customers. They concentrate on North America and Israel but invest globally, emphasizing companies targeting the U.S. market.
Khosla Ventures, founded in 2004 by Vinod Khosla and headquartered in Menlo Park, California, is a prominent venture capital firm specializing in technology investments, particularly in cleantech, health, and enterprise sectors.
With seven funds raised, including a $1.05 billion fund in 2018, the firm has made notable investments in companies like SunPower, C2FO, and Helion Energy. Backing innovative companies such as 23andMe, Oscar Health, C2FO, and AppDirect has made Khosla Ventures a leading and influential player in global venture capital.
Startup Capital Ventures (SCV) based in specializes in early-stage, capital-efficient B2B technology firms already generating revenue. They initially invested $250,000 to $1 million, reserving funds for future rounds. Their focus is on companies requiring minimal capital for success. They co-invest with other leading funds during Series Seed and Series A rounds, actively engaging with entrepreneurs and teams, even in challenging tech projects. Since 2005, SCV has invested across two funds, concentrating on FinTech, Cloud/SaaS, Security, Healthcare I.T., and IoT sectors.
Two Sigma Ventures, a venture capital firm based in New York, focuses on early-stage investments. Their investment range is between $5 million and $10 million. Their investments span from seed to series B rounds, and they maintain long-term partnerships with the companies they invest in. They have a broad industry focus, supporting data- and computing-driven transformation in healthcare, real estate, and consumer hardware. Leveraging software engineering, data science, quantitative modeling, and machine learning expertise, Two Sigma Ventures provides valuable long-term support to the companies they back. Notable portfolio companies include Bark, Dynasty, Verge Genomics, and Wealthsimple.
Based in San Francisco, Eniac Ventures is a deep tech venture capital firm that provides seed funding to startups in various sectors, including B2B, Consumer, Fintech, Healthcare, Sustainability, and Web3. Selected companies receive financial support and access to the Eniac platform and its four general partners.
Moreover, Eniac Ventures collaborates closely and actively with its portfolio companies, fostering their growth and success. While the exact investment amounts remain undisclosed, Eniac Ventures has invested in 114 companies, including Airbnb, Basket, Bedrock, Attentive, Boxed, Cameo, ChatGrid, Eden, and Hinge.
The aforementioned list of top 10 deep tech venture capital firms is non-exhaustive. As the U.S. captures the largest market share in the deep tech ecosystem, there are multiple other V.C.s deep tech startups can target and approach. These V.C.s invest in capable and innovative startups with business strategies for growth potential.
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