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DeepTech Founders Challenges & Expectations
DeepTech Founders Challenges & Expectations

September 19, 2022

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DeepTech Founders Challenges & Expectations

DeepTech start-ups have their own set of challenges which are incomparable with other start-ups. The ecosystem stakeholders need to understand these challenges and should address them in order to make this sector grow and prosper. Entrepreneurs struggle a lot with managing these challenges, which hinders them in scaling their start-ups. Though we have been discussing these challenges for many years, to understand them better, we conducted a survey with 60+ DeepTech founders.

Through this survey, we tried to understand the major challenges of DeepTech entrepreneurs and what expectations they have from the stakeholders (academic, investors, and government). Based on the survey analysis, we found out that the current top challenges for entrepreneurs are "talent" and "market access". Founders are facing a dearth of individuals skilled in AI, ML, Blockchain, AR, and VR. Despite the fact that the available talent is appropriately skilled, as stated by more than 60% of the founders. Also, 85% of founders/CEOs believe that deep tech talent comes at a substantial cost.

 

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Taking product to the market and getting the customer continues to be a pain point for the founders. 60% ranked market access to be the most important parameter to strengthen DeepTech start-up ecosystem.

So, what do DeepTech start-up founders want? Founders have different requirements from different stakeholders:

Academia:

  • Research Guidance: 55% of start-ups would like to engage with academia for research guidance. Right research guidance can help a start-up to develop the right product market fit.
  • Commercialization of a product or solution: The expectation that the product or solution will be commercialized.

 

Corporate:

  • Finding Potential Customers: Start-ups believe that collaborating with corporations will help them gain customers.
  • POC Implementation: >40% expect the proof-of-concept implementation in their business to show the impact of their solution.

 

Investors:

  • Patient Capital: Investor should invest in a DeepTech investment without expecting a fast return. DeepTech being a heavy R&D sector, needs time to develop the product market fit and need appropriate time to scale.
  • Investors with DeepTech founders not only want funding, but they also need experienced investors who have DeepTech understanding so that they can leverage the same in growing their business.
  • Right funding at right time: Not just the funding but funding at the right time is very important. It is critical to have consistent funding.

 

So, to address certain challenges, founders implement growth strategies to scale their DeepTech businesses:

  • Government Partnerships: Partnering with the government for multiple projects
  • Corporate Partnerships: Stake acquisition to support business growth
  • Partnering with Global: Partnering with global investors through multiple models like share subscription facilities, etc.
  • Solution for Niche Markets: Creating niche solutions can help gain significant customer traction.
  • Test Beds: Test beds help in testing the new products built by start-ups, providing them with the required support and confidence before going to market.

So, challenges are many and DeepTech founders to working hard to get them resolved. Now the onus is on ecosystem stakeholders to support them with their best to make this sector reach newer heights.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 


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