5 Deep Tech Investing Lessons Learned

Two weeks ago, which now seems like eons ago, before Stay At Home orders came into being, I had promised to address Deep Tech investment lessons learned. I myself have been an active angel investor in this domain for 6 years now, and though that’s not a long time in terms of the lifespan of an investor, I have faced my fair share of hard knocks and lessons learned (yes, real cash down the drain; the silver lining- I have generated a good amount of capital gain offsets.(

What is Deep Tech (again)? Simply put, these are companies building technology based on defensible science and research. Not so simple — the specific domains vary as technology moves forward. Today, it includes companies innovating in the domains of robotics, material science, synthetic biology — even fake-real food. This post might help.

Suffice it to say, investment flows have been trending upward. This graphic shows nearly $18B, growing at 22%, went into Global Deep Tech companies in 2018 (latest figures). I chose to cite Boston Consulting Group and their research as their numbers are sourced and calibrated, as you can see by the Note at the bottom of the graphic.

But when juxtaposed against ALL of venture capital, it’s a small percentage. Total venture capital deployed in the United States (not globally) was $130.9 B, making global Deep Tech investment around…