The term deep-tech is used to refer to products based on novel technologies with the potential to change current industry dynamics and help address grand societal challenges like climate change, illnesses, energy production, and storage.
This distinguishes them from other startups that base their offering on already commercialized technologies and/or are unrelated to societal challenges.
Not all innovative startups thus should be considered deep-tech even if they might work on some novel technology.
Depending on the context, the term Deep
Summarizing, Deep-Tech startups can be defined as:
“companies based on early-stage technologies deriving from scientific or engineering advances, requiring long development times, systemic integration, and sophisticated knowledge to create a downstream offering with the potential to address grand societal challenges.” (Deep Tech: Unveiling the Foundations)
or
“enterprises that are positioned at the scientific frontiers, with long and uncertain R&D cycles; building tangible, often regulated, products and processes; linked to key ecosystem stakeholders, especially higher education institutions; problem-oriented or mission drive, and hence directed to the solution of public value failures; built through a dynamic de-risking cycle which recognize the option space faced by founders and investors.” (What is “Deep Tech” and what are Deep Tech Ventures? MIT)
This definition encompasses projects facing an enormous amount of uncertainty:
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