Deep Tech VCs Worldwide: 22 Venture Capital Firms in Europe, North America, Israel and Asia-Pacific
Deep tech startups need investors who can read a physics paper, wait longer for revenue and still lead the next round. Most "top deep tech VC" lists copy fund sizes and portfolio names from other lists, and many of the names on our own 2025 list turned out to be wrong, parked or generalist. For this guide we checked 22 venture firms on their own websites in October 2026, chosen across four regions: Europe, North America, Israel and Asia-Pacific. For each firm you get its base, the deep tech areas it names, the earliest stage, the ticket size if it publishes one, its latest fund or assets under management, and portfolio examples taken only from its own pages.
Quick answer: for a first cheque, look at Fly Ventures (Berlin), Voima Ventures (Helsinki), SOSV (pre-seed, up to $550,000), Grove Ventures (Israel) and Speciale Invest (India, about $1 million). Dedicated deep tech specialists with large funds are DCVC, Lux Capital, Playground Global and Engine Ventures in the US and Main Sequence in Australia (over $1 billion under management, founded by CSIRO). Quantum founders should add Quantonation; chip founders Walden Catalyst; defence and dual-use founders Harpoon and Riot Ventures; founders in Asia pi Ventures, Beyond Next Ventures and SGInnovate. Regional deep dives: our deep tech VCs in Europe (15 firms) and deep tech VCs in North America (20 firms).
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Deep Tech VC Firms Worldwide Compared
Sources: each firm's own website and announcements, checked 28 to 31 October 2026. "Not published" means the firm's site does not state it; press-only figures are marked "according to". Dollar figures are as each site states them.
Europe: 6 Deep Tech VCs
Six European firms with a stated deep tech focus, from first-cheque funds to growth equity. Our Europe guide, linked above, covers nine more, including HTGF, IQ Capital, Vsquared, Verve and APEX.
1. Fly Ventures
Fly Ventures (Berlin) calls itself a "first-check VC for technical founders across Europe" that backs founders "everyone wants to meet but nobody dares to invest in", working on problems that are technically hard or largely unmapped. It invests at pre-seed and seed as lead or co-lead, mostly before product and revenue, in Europe and in European diaspora founders in the US, and keeps follow-ons limited. Its examples: Wayve (embodied AI for driving, backed at seed in 2017), Lakera (AI security, 2022), 9fin and Orbital Industries (AI for materials design). It publishes no fund size.
2. Voima Ventures
Voima Ventures (Helsinki and Stockholm) funds "the top scientific deep tech ventures in the Nordics and Baltics". Its investments range from pre-seed and technology spin-offs to leading a Series A, and even a Series B. Its portfolio, tagged by Fund I, II and III, covers advanced manufacturing, energy, imaging and optics, new materials, quantum and AI, and life sciences: Dispelix (waveguide displays), Cellfion (bio-based membranes) and Agate Sensors (hyperspectral sensors on a chip). On September 30, 2026 it co-led a EUR 1.2 million pre-seed round in Aventix. It publishes no fund sizes.
3. Atlantic Bridge
Atlantic Bridge describes itself as a growth equity firm that invests in deep technology companies in Europe, the UK and the US, with offices in Dublin, London, Munich, Paris and Palo Alto and over EUR 1 billion under management across eight funds. It lists 120 portfolio companies and runs an affiliate, University Bridge Fund. Portfolio news on its site includes SambaNova (AI chips and inference systems), which raised $1 billion at an $11 billion valuation (July 2026), and quantum chip maker Equal1. Its "Office Hours" offer founders a 20-minute call with the team. Note: it is a growth investor, not the early-stage fund the 2025 list described.
4. Supernova Invest
Supernova Invest (Paris) says it is "empowering deeptech leaders to shape the future" across four sectors: industrial technologies, digital, healthcare and cleantech, with a team of more than 20 investors. Portfolio companies on its homepage: Alice and Bob and Quobly (quantum computers), Loft Orbital (space infrastructure), Kraken Technology (autonomous maritime platforms for defence) and Spiro Medical. The fund figures on its homepage did not load when we checked, so we give none.
5. Quantonation
Quantonation describes itself as a global venture capital fund for breakthrough technologies based on physics and computing, from quantum computing to secure communications and sensing, with offices in Paris and Dallas. According to Bloomberg, its second fund, Quantonation II, closed at EUR 220 million in February 2026. It publishes no stage or ticket size.
6. Speedinvest
Speedinvest is a pan-European fund (Vienna, Berlin, London, Munich, Paris) whose Deep Tech team backs advanced AI, quantum computing, energy, materials discovery, robotics, defence and space startups, including first-time teams spinning out of universities. It closed its fourth flagship fund, Speedinvest 4, at EUR 350 million on January 31, 2024, and invests from pre-seed.
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North America: 8 Deep Tech VCs
Eight US firms that say on their own pages that they invest in deep tech, hard tech or critical industries. Eclipse, Lowercarbon, Root Ventures and Canada's Two Small Fish are in our North America guide.
7. Lux Capital
Lux Capital (New York and Silicon Valley) invests in emerging science and technology companies and reports $7 billion under management; its tagline is "We turn sci-fi into sci-fact". Its portfolio page lists Anduril, Applied Intuition and Physical Intelligence. Its site states no fund size; according to TechCrunch, it closed Lux Ventures IX at $1.5 billion in January 2026.
8. DCVC
DCVC (founded as Data Collective, Palo Alto and San Francisco) says "We are deep tech venture capital" and reports over $4 billion under management. It invests from the very start in AI and compute, quantum, computational bio, defence, energy, space and agriculture; homepage examples include Fervo Energy, Pivot Bio and Radiant (nuclear microreactors). On September 30, 2024 it announced over $700 million across its first climate fund and a new DCVC Bio fund.
9. Engine Ventures (formerly The Engine)
Engine Ventures invests in "Tough Tech" founders from the Boston research community around MIT and Harvard. It used to be the investing side of The Engine; The Engine is now a separate nonprofit incubator with labs that does not invest. Portfolio companies include Commonwealth Fusion Systems, Form Energy and Lilac Solutions. According to Gunderson Dettmer, Fund III closed at $398 million in June 2024.
10. Playground Global
Playground Global (Palo Alto) invests "at the earliest stages of company formation" in next-gen compute (quantum, AI acceleration, interconnects), automation, the energy transition and engineered biology. Its portfolio includes Agility Robotics, Ayar Labs (silicon photonics) and Amber Bio; according to Axios and the law firm Cooley, it closed a $475 million Fund IV on May 18, 2026.
11. Walden Catalyst
Walden Catalyst is led by Lip-Bu Tan and Young Sohn, whom it calls "two icons of deep tech". Its focus is data, deep tech, AI, cloud, fintech and digital biology, with early-stage investments across the US, Europe and Israel. Counting its partners' track record, its homepage lists more than 200 invested companies, 60 of them in semiconductors. It backed Rivos (RISC-V compute) from inception until Meta acquired it, and on October 27, 2026 it led Hyperbolic's $30 million Series A1 in AI compute. It publishes no fund size.
12. Harpoon Ventures
Harpoon Ventures was founded in 2018 by a two-time Olympic medallist and former Navy SEAL on the belief that "technology will define geopolitics". It invests in AI, deep tech, software infrastructure and cybersecurity, and says it has helped founders win over $1 billion in US government contracts. Portfolio: Astranis (satellites), Aalo Atomics (nuclear), Solugen (chemicals), MatX (AI chips) and Starcloud (data centres in space). Its news page links Tectonic Defense's report that it raised a $155 million Fund IV in July 2026.
13. Riot Ventures
Riot Ventures is headquartered in Los Angeles (Venice, California), not in Europe as the 2025 list said. It is "dedicated to modernizing our critical industries" and backs a select group of companies with checks up to $200 million. Its portfolio page lists Shield AI (AI pilots), True Anomaly (orbital space defence), Valar Atomics (mass-manufactured nuclear reactors), EnduroSat (satellites), Lumafield (industrial imaging) and Parallel Systems (autonomous rail freight).
14. SOSV
SOSV invests in "Deep Tech for Human and Planetary Health" from programmes in San Francisco, New York and Newark, home of its HAX hardware programme. It makes about 60 pre-seed investments a year of up to $550,000 each and follows on at least through Series B; it counts more than 800 portfolio companies, such as Opentrons and Smartex.
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Israel: 3 Deep Tech VCs
Israel's deep tech investors lean towards chips, cyber and security technology. Walden Catalyst (above) also invests in Israel.
15. Grove Ventures
Grove Ventures invests at pre-seed and seed in Israeli teams in enterprise AI, deep tech, AI infrastructure and healthtech, with over $500 million under management. Its portfolio categories include semiconductors, data centre and compute, energy and bio. Companies featured on its homepage include Teramount (fibre connectivity for photonic chips), Quantum Source, Wiliot and Alice, which raised $140 million.
16. Vertex Ventures Israel
Vertex Ventures Israel was founded in 1997 and reports $1.6 billion under management, more than 150 companies and 48 exits. It invests from seed to Series B in AI, cyber, healthtech and deep tech, and its portfolio filter has separate DeepTech and Quantum categories. It is part of the wider Vertex network, whose Southeast Asia and India fund is mainly a generalist.
17. Awz Ventures
Awz Ventures says it cultivates "deep-technology solutions to the world's biggest challenges from inception to global success". It has offices in Toronto, Tel Aviv and the US, reports $500 million under management, 35 companies and four exits, and counts former heads of security and intelligence agencies among its partners. Its Awz X-Seed hub is an early-stage technology fund for the very first round.
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Asia-Pacific: 5 Deep Tech VCs
Australia, India, Japan and Singapore each have at least one investor that calls itself a deep tech specialist. For more Asian funds at seed, see our early-stage VCs in Asia.
18. Main Sequence
Main Sequence ("We back deep tech founders") was founded by CSIRO, Australia's national science agency, in 2017 to bridge the gap between research and companies. Its funds, as stated on its site: the $240 million first CSIRO Innovation Fund, a $310 million Fund 2 and a $450 million Fund 3, bringing funds under management to over $1 billion; it expects to launch its Fund 4 raise towards the end of 2026. It invests through six challenges, from space and decarbonisation to feeding 10 billion people, and runs a spin-out series for researchers. Portfolio: Diraq (silicon quantum computing) and Facet Amtech (ammonia production).
19. pi Ventures
pi Ventures calls itself "India's pioneering deep-tech and AI fund" and invests in early-stage companies. Its homepage gives a current fund of $85 million, a cheque size of $250,000 to $3 million and more than 25 portfolio companies. Portfolio examples: Agnikul Cosmos (3D-printed rockets), Quanfluence (photonic quantum computing), Ottonomy (delivery robots) and Zero Cow Factory (precision fermentation).
20. Speciale Invest
Speciale Invest ("The DeepTech VC") invests at pre-seed and seed in India across novel energy and planetary health, longevity and synthetic biology, space tech, advanced manufacturing and AI-led software. Its sweet spot is about $1 million, with half of each fund kept for follow-ons; it reports more than $140 million and over 45 companies, with bets on nuclear fusion, flying taxis and 3D-printed rocket engines.
21. Beyond Next Ventures
Beyond Next Ventures (Tokyo, founded in 2014) invests in and supports deep tech startups. Its funds, as listed on its company page: Fund 1 JPY 5.5 billion (2015), Fund 2 JPY 16.5 billion (2018) and Fund 3 JPY 25.7 billion (2023), about JPY 48 billion in total. It opened an Indian subsidiary in Bengaluru in 2020 and runs APOLLO, a programme that matches researchers with entrepreneurs in residence.
22. SGInnovate
SGInnovate (Singapore) is a strategic investor that helps startups turn scientific research into deep tech products. It selects "scalable companies with proven technology and market traction" and adds corporate introductions and talent programmes; it reports a deep tech community of more than 190,000 people. It does not publish ticket or fund sizes.
Firms That Left This List and Why
The 2025 version of this article listed 25 names. Thirteen stay, several with corrected facts. The rest changed:
- Gone or unreachable: the domains of Upheaval Investments (newly registered and parked), Embark Ventures and TSVC (both for sale) no longer belong to a VC firm, and the sites of Good Growth Capital and "DeepTech Ventures" do not resolve.
- Generalists: Sequoia, Bessemer and Andreessen Horowitz invest across all of tech; a16z's American Dynamism practice is covered in our North America guide. K9 Ventures is a technology pre-seed fund in Palo Alto without a stated deep tech focus, and its latest blog post dates from 2023. ACT Venture Capital (Dublin, 140 companies across six funds) is active but generalist; see our early-stage VC firms list.
- Moved to the Europe guide: APEX Ventures and Verve Ventures are still active deep tech investors.
- Corrected: Riot Ventures is in Los Angeles, not Europe; Atlantic Bridge is a growth equity firm, not an early-stage fund; Walden Catalyst and Grove are early-stage firms with their own published focus.
- Removed claims: every old fund size and portfolio name we could not find on the firms' own pages (for example Fly's "EUR 100 million", Voima's IQM, Riot's Darktrace and Snyk, Grove's Lightricks and Cato, SOSV's "8 unicorns") and every old "learn more" link, which pointed to Google redirect URLs or third-party list sites.
- Not listed: UTEC (University of Tokyo Edge Capital Partners) showed only a maintenance page when we checked, so we could not verify it.
Raising From Deep Tech VCs in 5 Steps
- Start with grants and lab time. Non-dilutive money buys time to prove the science: see research grants for deep tech, deep tech, AI and quantum grants and our deep tech grants in North America.
- Find a first cheque. Fly, Voima, SOSV, Grove, Speciale Invest and Awz X-Seed say they invest at the very start.
- Pick a seed lead by sector. Quantum: Quantonation; chips and compute: Walden Catalyst or Playground; climate, bio and space: DCVC; India: pi Ventures; Japan: Beyond Next Ventures.
- Add strategic money where governments are customers. Harpoon and Riot focus on defence and critical industries; SGInnovate and Main Sequence connect founders to national research systems.
- Plan the scale-up round early. Atlantic Bridge writes growth rounds across Europe and the US; Lux, Engine Ventures and Vertex Ventures Israel back larger rounds.
Which Deep Tech VC Should You Choose?
- Pre-revenue science team in Europe: Fly Ventures, Voima Ventures (Nordics and Baltics) or Speedinvest's Deep Tech team.
- US hardware, fusion or climate: DCVC, Engine Ventures, Playground Global or Lux Capital; SOSV for a pre-seed cheque up to $550,000.
- Quantum: Quantonation first; Supernova (Alice and Bob, Quobly), Main Sequence (Diraq), pi Ventures (Quanfluence) and Grove (Quantum Source) also hold quantum companies.
- Semiconductors and AI compute: Walden Catalyst, Atlantic Bridge (SambaNova, Equal1), Grove (Teramount) or Harpoon (MatX).
- Defence and space: Riot Ventures, Harpoon Ventures and Awz Ventures; Supernova backs Loft Orbital and Kraken Technology.
- Israel: Grove at pre-seed, Vertex Ventures Israel from seed to Series B, Awz for security tech.
- Asia-Pacific: Main Sequence in Australia, pi Ventures and Speciale Invest in India, Beyond Next Ventures in Japan and SGInnovate in Singapore.
- AI-first startups: compare these firms with our VCs for AI startups.
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How Deep Tech Founders Prepare to Raise
Deep tech partners read the science first, but they still want a path to paying customers. Many founders start in a programme: compare deep tech accelerators in Europe and deep tech incubators in Europe, raise from deep tech angel investors in Europe, or win prize money at deep tech startup competitions in North America and startup competitions in North America. Location matters for labs and hiring: see the best countries for deep tech startups in Europe and the best cities for deep tech startups in Europe. Before you pitch, build a fundraising pitch deck that tells a story, read up on term sheet negotiation and avoid the classic pre-seed fundraising mistakes. Women founders can add our female founder grants and grants for women entrepreneurs in Asia guides. Not sure VC is right? Read venture capital vs grants. Many partners meet founders at events: see our list of fundraising and investor events.
FAQ About Deep Tech VCs
What is a deep tech VC?
A venture capital firm that invests in startups built on scientific or engineering breakthroughs, such as quantum computing, chips and photonics, fusion and nuclear power, robotics, space, new materials or engineered biology. DCVC ("We are deep tech venture capital"), Main Sequence ("We back deep tech founders") and Speciale Invest ("The DeepTech VC") describe themselves that way.
Which deep tech VCs invest at pre-seed?
Fly Ventures (pre-seed and seed, first cheque), Voima Ventures (from pre-seed and spin-offs), SOSV (up to $550,000), Grove Ventures (pre-seed and seed), Speciale Invest (pre-seed and seed, about $1 million) and Speedinvest (from pre-seed).
How much do deep tech VCs invest?
Few publish it. SOSV invests up to $550,000 at pre-seed, pi Ventures $250,000 to $3 million, Speciale Invest about $1 million, and Riot Ventures writes checks up to $200 million.
Which is the largest deep tech fund on this list?
Lux Ventures IX at $1.5 billion (January 2026, according to TechCrunch). Among funds announced by the firms themselves, Playground's $475 million Fund IV (May 2026) and Main Sequence's $450 million Fund 3 are among the largest.
Which VCs invest in quantum startups?
Quantonation is dedicated to quantum and physics-based technologies. Supernova Invest (Alice and Bob, Quobly), Main Sequence (Diraq), pi Ventures (Quanfluence), Grove (Quantum Source) and Atlantic Bridge (Equal1) also hold quantum companies.
Which deep tech VCs are in Israel?
Grove Ventures (pre-seed and seed, over $500 million under management), Vertex Ventures Israel (seed to Series B, $1.6 billion under management) and Awz Ventures (Toronto and Tel Aviv, $500 million). Walden Catalyst also invests in Israel.
Which deep tech VCs are in Asia-Pacific?
Main Sequence in Australia (founded by CSIRO), pi Ventures and Speciale Invest in India, Beyond Next Ventures in Japan (about JPY 48 billion across three funds) and SGInnovate in Singapore.
Is Riot Ventures a European fund?
No. Riot Ventures is headquartered in Los Angeles and invests in critical industries such as defence, space and nuclear, with checks up to $200 million. The 2025 version of this list placed it in Europe with portfolio names that are not on its site.
Why are Sequoia and other big names no longer on the list?
They are generalists that do not state a deep tech focus on their own sites. We replaced them with firms that do, and point to our regional guides for more names.
How can I get my deep tech startup in front of more investors?
Get covered where investors and AI assistants look: you can publish a guest post in the Fe/male Switch startup blogs. Get featured and earn a backlink.
About the Author
Violetta Bonenkamp, also known as MeanCEO, is an experienced startup founder with an impressive educational background including an MBA and four other higher education degrees. She has over 20 years of work experience across multiple countries, including 5 years as a solopreneur and serial entrepreneur. Throughout her startup experience she has applied for multiple startup grants at the EU level, in the Netherlands and Malta, and her startups received quite a few of those. She’s been living, studying and working in many countries around the globe and her extensive multicultural experience has influenced her immensely.
