Inside Europe’s Deep Tech Boom with IQ Capital

European deep tech is entering a phase of rapid acceleration. Technologies that only recently lived inside research labs are now becoming commercial products — transforming energy, biomedicine, computing, manufacturing, and more.

At a closed Raison event, Maxim Bautin, Co-Founder of IQ Capital, shared how one of Europe’s leading deep-tech funds operates and why this market is now creating exceptional opportunities for investors.

What Deep Tech Means Today

Deep tech is a practical, commercially-driven sector that consistently produces multi-billion-dollar companies and reshapes entire industries. Unlike traditional IT, it relies on fundamental scientific breakthroughs rather than interfaces. It appears in real technologies such as:

• next-generation batteries that charge in minutes,
• gene therapies capable of treating aggressive cancers,
• compact reactors that redefine the economics of energy,
• algorithms that deliver precise GPS where existing systems fail.

These are the technologies forming the backbone of future industries — from energy and biomedicine to semiconductors, autonomous systems, and next-gen computing architectures.

Europe as the New Center of Scientific Innovation

During the discussion, Maxim highlighted how significantly the European tech ecosystem has evolved:

In Europe, we now see a lot more teams that truly understand how to commercialize technology.

Universities such as Cambridge and Oxford are now more tightly connected to business, government programs support local innovation, and the number of serial deep-tech founders is rising.

At the same time, Europe remains a more accessible market for investors. As Maxim emphasized:

Startups of similar quality often cost less here than in the U.S.

This creates a rare window where scientific talent and team quality match Silicon Valley standards — but valuations are lower, and competition is weaker.

Against this backdrop, deep tech becomes a strategically important domain for the region — and this is precisely where IQ Capital operates.

How IQ Capital Selects Companies: A Method That Works for 20+ Years

IQ Capital reviews around 3,500 companies each year, but invests in just 0.1% — only those with the potential to become the foundation of a major future market.

The fund works exclusively with technologies ready for commercialisation, avoiding concepts stuck at the research stage. As Maxim said:

We invest in technologies ready for manufacturing, not in scientific research.

We invest only when we understand the technology at the level of physics and materials science.

Most members of IQ Capital’s team are engineers, scientists, and PhDs — experts capable of evaluating technologies at a fundamental level. This approach ensures that the companies they select have a genuine technological core and the ability to scale globally.

Companies Growing With and Ahead of the Market

During the session, Maxim highlighted several examples of deep-tech companies already reshaping industries:

• Nyobolt — next-generation niobium-based batteries.
• FocalPoint — high-precision GPS that works where existing systems fail.
• Tropic Bioscience — CRISPR-driven agricultural genomics for resilient crops.
• Trogenix — gene-therapy solutions for aggressive cancers.
• New-generation SMRs — compact modular reactors that dramatically reduce energy costs.
• H2GO Power — clean synthetic gas based on next-gen hydrogen technology.

Each case demonstrates the same principle: when deep tech works, it changes the physical boundaries of what markets can do — and creates entirely new ones.

Fund V (£250M): Investing in the Technologies of the Next Decade

IQ Capital’s new Fund V targets the technologies shaping the next wave of industrial transformation — including artificial intelligence, automation, biotechnologies, medical innovation, advanced engineering, semiconductors, and security systems.

These domains are already defining the trajectory of global industries. To support the most promising founders and maintain meaningful ownership stakes, IQ Capital expanded Fund V to more than double its previous size.

As Maxim put it:

Our job is to find technologies that will become the foundation of major markets in five years.

Deep Tech Is the Market of the Coming Decades

Deep tech is no longer a niche — it is becoming the infrastructure of the future economy. Today, science, business, and capital are finally moving in sync, making this cycle particularly significant.

These technologies require long horizons, but they are the ones that create entirely new industries — from next-gen energy and medicine to computation and autonomous systems.

Why Raison Works With IQ Capital

Within our fund-of-funds strategy, we look for partners who can work with technology at a profound level. IQ Capital is one of the rare players capable of evaluating innovations at the level of science while also recognising which companies can scale into global markets.

As Raison Co-Founder Andrey Berezin noted:

This partnership is part of our fund-of-funds strategy: we select the best opportunities from the venture market for our clients and connect them with professionals who are truly strong in early-stage investing.

IQ Capital’s team brings unique technical expertise — engineers, scientists, and PhDs — and operates at the heart of Europe’s deep-tech ecosystem. With access to leading universities and more than 25 R&D centers, the fund identifies high-potential companies earlier than the market.

Over the years, IQ Capital has supported more than 100 technology companies and completed over 20 successful exits, including acquisitions by Meta, Oracle, Google, Huawei, and Apple, as well as IPOs on NASDAQ. This track record confirms the strength of their approach and makes IQ Capital a powerful partner for investors who want exposure to next-generation technologies.

If you'd like to dive deeper into IQ Capital’s logic and watch the full conversation with Maxim Bautin, you can view the recording here.