What is Deep Tech

There is no standardised definition of Deep Tech. This page provides a shared understanding of what Deep Tech is for the purposes of this wiki.

If you think this page can be improved or updated, we invite you to Talk:What is Deep Tech to discuss.

A Simple Test

For a quick test on a subject's relevance to deep tech, ask the following question:

Does this work go beyond standard product development with meaningful scientific discovery, advanced engineering, or original research?

If the answer is yes, this project is deep tech.

More considerations

Usage of the term

The term Deep Tech is almost exclusively used by the startup and venture industry. There is an implicit understanding deep tech refers to a startup or a research project with commercialisation goals.

Level of technical innovation

Deep Tech was initially coined to differentiate a sub-sector of the Tech industry, which was dominated by internet, mobile, or Software-as-a-Service solutions. Deep Tech referred to innovative solutions that went beyond incremental improvements to products or business models. Put a different way, these solutions had scientific or engineering breakthroughs, with the potential to disrupt industries or solve longstanding problems in industries.

Common features of deep tech startups

Providing an objective criteria for the level of technical innovation necessary for Deep Tech recognition is impossible. However, the level of technical expected often means a deep tech startup has:

• Technology arising from work done in tertiary research institutions, such as universities or corporate R&D
• Intellectual property protection (i.e. patents) for core technologies
• PhD-level expertise as part of the startup team or as advisory

The above are just helpful markers but are neither definitive or exhaustive. A startup may have none of these features but still be recognised as a Deep Tech startup.