How the deeptech raise works

Why this matters

Fundraising is where good deeptech founders most often trip up. Not because warm intros matter less or because the product is weak, but because the process has its own logic. This is the deepest unit in the program, and this lesson is the map for it.

What you're actually raising

Most deeptech companies start with a pre-seed or seed round, usually on a SAFE, a simple financial instrument that converts to equity later. You're not selling a finished business. You're selling a credible plan to retire a specific chunk of technical and commercial risk and reach the milestone that unlocks your next, larger round.

When to raise

Raise when you've de-risked enough that a clear next milestone is in reach and you can tell investors exactly what their money buys. Size the round to give yourself roughly 18 to 24 months of runway, including a few months to run the next raise itself. Raising with no milestone in sight, or with almost no runway left, both read as warning signs.

Milestone-based, not just idea-based

Deeptech is capital-intensive and slower than software, so investors think in milestones. Each round should fund the specific technical and commercial proof points that make the next round possible: a working prototype, a pilot deployment, a signed LOI, a manufacturing partner. The clearer that chain from this round to the next, the easier you are to fund.

What investors are really buying

Underneath every deeptech pitch, investors are underwriting a handful of things: your team, your "why now," your defensibility, your path to customers, and whether this can become big enough to matter. The rest of this unit teaches you to make the case for each.

The shape of the process

Here's the arc this unit walks through, in order:

• Set your valuation and how much to raise.
• Build a target list of the funds that invest in your sector and stage.
• Reach them through warm intros and cold outreach.
• Make the pitch, and build the deck.
• Run the process to create momentum and close.
• Diligence the investors before you accept their money.

And once you're pitching in your sector, the deck deep-dives at the end go slide by slide.