Why Saving the Planet Isn’t Enough to Save Your Startup
It’s tempting to believe that aligning with a noble purpose - solving climate change, revolutionising healthcare, or addressing global food security - is enough to secure investor support. After all, who wouldn’t want to back a mission that promises to save the planet or transform lives?
Yet, here’s the uncomfortable truth: while investors may cheer for your vision, their wallets follow a different metric - returns.
When it comes to securing investment, purpose may be the entry ticket but it is not the winning play. What investors really care about is whether your solution sits within a market opportunity big enough to justify their bet.
VCs are not altruists; they’re capitalists. They’re asking questions like: How scalable is this? Is the market timing right? Could this company one day be worth a billion dollars? Founders who can’t articulate these answers, regardless of their technological genius, will struggle in their quest for funding.
DeepTech, science-driven startups face additional hurdles: long development timelines, complex products, and opaque markets. These factors make it even harder to craft the kind of compelling story investors need to hear.
Too often, DeepTech founders overestimate the weight of their technological breakthrough and underestimate the importance of market clarity. Being "right about the future" isn’t enough - you need to convince investors that the future can be turned into a high-growth business within a timeframe they’re willing to wait for.
Today we unpack the five critical mistakes DeepTech founders make when trying to align their vision with investor priorities. From focusing too much on technology to misjudging market timing, these pitfalls explain why groundbreaking ideas often fail to secure the support they deserve.
If you’re serious about building a DeepTech startup that changes the world and attracts capital, you’ll need to avoid these missteps. Irrespective of whether you are raising at Seed or Series C, these traps are waiting for you.
1. Investors want a market-centric story, not a technology pitch
DeepTech founders are prone to overemphasise the intricacies of their technology when pitching to investors. While technical details are important, they are not enough to secure funding. Investors are primarily interested in how the technology solves a significant problem and whether it has strong commercial potential. Compelling narratives about business value are what seal the deal.
A balanced pitch should intertwine technical achievements with a clear articulation of the market opportunity, the problem being solved, and the value the technology brings to customers. Failing to bridge this gap can leave investors disengaged, regardless of the brilliance of the underlying innovation.
Contrary to popular belief this is not just a trap at early stage. Often, as markets heat up and new competitors enter the field, startups double down on their technology prowess rather on than their unique market positioning.
Example: Moxion Power, a company specialising in Battery Energy Storage Systems, filed for bankruptcy in August 2024. Despite spending over $100M on its highly innovative technology, Moxion struggled to secure additional funding. This was partly because investors were uncertain about the company's market strategy and its ability to scale effectively in the increasingly competitive energy sector.
2. Build it and they won’t come: The danger of ignoring customers
Assuming the market will naturally adopt your breakthrough technology without validation is a recipe for disaster.
Some DeepTech founders believe their technology’s uniqueness guarantees success. Unfortunately, this mindset can lead to neglecting market research and customer feedback.
Others build a community of advocates and influencers from those that would seek to become early adopters. These voices help condition the market. Successful startups then prioritise engaging with these early adopters (early demos, prototypes, evaluations, etc.) to validate their product and refine it based on real needs.
Without this validation, founders risk building solutions that don’t align with market demand. The result? A sophisticated product that no one wants. DeepTech founders must treat market research and early customer interaction as integral to the development process (just as software founders do) not as afterthoughts.
Again, and perhaps surprisingly, this catches out scaleups just as much as startups.
Example: Zymergen, a synthetic biology company, aimed to revolutionise materials science by engineering microbes to produce novel biomolecules. However, their first product, Hyaline, failed to meet customer expectations following $100M's of investment, leading to a significant stock price drop, the CEO's departure, and SEC charges for “unsupported hype” in its IPO.
3. The smartest person in the room won’t scale your startup
Technical brilliance doesn’t compensate for poor leadership or business blind spots - successful founders build teams that complement their skills.
Being a technical genius is a fantastic start, but it’s rarely enough to scale a business. Some founders lack the marketing, sales, or operational expertise required to grow their startups beyond the lab. This limitation can lead to stalled progress, inefficient scaling, and missed opportunities.
Recognising personal weaknesses is not a liability - it’s a strength. Founders should actively seek mentorship and surround themselves with a diverse team of experts who can fill these gaps, ensuring the business is set up for sustainable growth.
Once more, this trap applies as much to scaleups as startups. In fact, it usually becomes most apparent when the startup begins to build commercial momentum.
Example: LightSail Energy, specialising in compressed air energy storage, attracted significant investment due to its innovative technology and eclectic management team. However, mismanagement and an inability to transition from development to commercialisation - in part due to lack of relevant industry experience - led to its shutdown.
4. Investors don’t buy dreams without deadlines
Unrealistic milestones and vague roadmaps fail to attract funding - investors need measurable progress and a clear timeline for returns.
DeepTech startups often have longer development cycles than typical startups. This can make aligning with investors’ expectations challenging. Founders need to establish realistic milestones that demonstrate progress and keep investors engaged.
A well-thought-out roadmap signals to investors that the team understands the complexities of their technology and the market they are engaging with. Clarity and transparency about the long-term vision, coupled with achievable short-term goals, can help secure the support of investors who are aligned with the DeepTech timeline.
This trap often lies in wait until the startup has almost finished completing its first product. It's when you feel like you’re 90 percent there when you suddenly realize that the last 10 percent is going to be much more difficult than the first 90.
Example: Fisker Inc. aimed to revolutionise electric vehicles with advanced solid-state battery technology. However, the company faced delays and eventually abandoned its solid-state battery plans in 2021 after raising $100M's. To secure its financing strategy, the company then reverted to a proven lithium-ion battery technology.
5. Too early is just as bad as too late
Launching ahead of market readiness can kill even the most innovative ideas. Well-judged timing is critical for DeepTech success.
In their excitement to unveil groundbreaking technology, DeepTech founders sometimes forget the significance of market timing. Releasing a product before the market is ready can be just as detrimental as launching too late. For instance, regulatory barriers, insufficient infrastructure, or lack of consumer awareness may hinder adoption, even if the technology is superior.
Founders need to rigorously assess market readiness, track industry trends, and evaluate the adoption capacity of target customers before launching. Well-judged timing, coupled with a robust go-to-market strategy, can make all the difference between a failed experiment and a market leader.
The go-to-market strategy can often hinge on industry partners looking to collaborate and then capitalise on the same market opportunity. But when partners are hard to find this may signal that the market is just not ready.
Example: Aria Insights specialised in developing advanced drones equipped with cutting-edge technology for data collection and analysis. Despite their innovative approach - and raising $39M - the company ceased operations in March 2019. The biggest impediment was market readiness: The commercial drone market was not yet mature, with potential clients hesitant to adopt new technologies without clear regulatory frameworks and proven return on investment.
Bucking the system
While the principles outlined are crucial for most DeepTech startups seeking investment, there will always be exceptions. Serial entrepreneurs with a track record of success typically secure funding more easily, as investors will often place significant value on their prior achievements.
Research indicates that serial founders raise approximately 2.5 times more in angel and seed rounds than first-time founders, a figure that increases to 3.4 times in later stages. Even so, relying solely on past success or persuasive storytelling without substantiating the business case is uncommon and not a reliable strategy for most founders.
For example, few startup teams - no matter how talented - can overcome the challenges of a market that doesn’t yet exist or isn’t ready to adopt the technology. Just look at some of the examples above. Where they will score more highly is in the ability to pivot early and economically in the face of rising market challenges.
Conclusion: Winning over investors in DeepTech
Building a DeepTech startup is one of the hardest entrepreneurial challenges. It requires balancing cutting-edge innovation with commercial realities and aligning your vision with investor priorities. To avoid the pitfalls that have sunk so many promising ventures, keep these key lessons in mind:
By focusing on these critical areas, you’ll not only build a startup with impact but one that can attract the investment needed to scale and thrive in the competitive DeepTech landscape.
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