Fostering cutting edge entrepreneurship in deep science and technology.
The Institute for Deep Tech Entrepreneurship aims to understand and address the critical barriers to the successful commercialisation of Deep Tech ventures. Many of the world’s most pressing problems — from addressing climate change, developing sustainable food and water systems, and improving human health and well-being — depend critically on the successful commercialisation of fundamental science and engineering innovations that are often referred to collectively as “Deep Tech”. Deep Tech is a cornerstone of continued advances in new technological paradigms that arise from fundamental science and tangible innovation.
While Venture Capital (VC) remains a powerful source of risk capital to build traditional digital and technology ventures, the nature of Deep Tech ventures often makes them a poor match for VC investment: they have longer timelines to go to market and generate revenue, the technology and market risks are significant, de-risking these technologies is capital-intensive, and the high standard of science is not easily matched with commercial experience of the same calibre. Together, these factors imply that many high potential ventures are either spun out too early or undercapitalized, leading them to fall into the “valley of death” between university research programmes and commercially viable investments.
The Institute for Deep Tech Entrepreneurship will build on the College’s strong entrepreneurial culture and outstanding research foundation in Natural Sciences, Engineering and Medicine to position Imperial College as a global leader in the design and development of entrepreneurial funding models, frameworks, policies and tools necessary to commercialise Deep Tech innovations.
The Institute aims to provide a thriving ecosystem for nascent Deep Tech ventures through three inter-related areas of work to help these “moonshots” achieve their full potential.
- Building investable businesses from university research: Helping university ventures hit the milestones that matter to early-stage investors, supporting better-prepared teams, clearer value propositions, and more investable science.
- Improving risk capital deployment for science-led ventures: Supporting investors backing science-based ventures to strengthen investment outcomes, with the goal of enabling more risk capital to flow into the sector.
- Engaging policymakers through a translation lens: Providing insights to help policymakers design smarter funding, procurement, and regulatory strategies that unlock value from science-led innovation.
The Institute for Deep Tech Entrepreneurship is led by Professor Ramana Nanda, Professor of Entrepreneurial Finance. Learn more about the Institute for Deep Tech Entrepreneurship.
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