Top Venture Capital Firms Investing in Deeptech
Deep technology, meaning startups built on scientific or engineering breakthroughs rather than software alone, has gone from a niche corner of venture capital to one of its fastest-growing categories. According to published industry data, deep tech now accounts for roughly 36% of all venture capital funding globally, up from around 10% a decade ago. The capital requirements are higher, the timelines are longer, and the investors who back these companies tend to evaluate technical risk in ways that generalist funds simply do not.
The directory tool above lists every deeptech-focused venture capital firm in PEL's database, filterable by stage, geography, check size, and sector. This section exists to give you something the table cannot: context on what actually distinguishes one firm from another, so you can filter with a clearer sense of what you are looking for before you reach out.
1. 10x Founders
Seven serial entrepreneurs, each with at least one company-building cycle behind them, pool their judgment and capital through a single €160 million fund based in Munich. That structure, a super angel network rather than a traditional GP/LP fund managed by career investors, shapes how 10x Founders behaves at the table. Founders get access to people who have personally navigated the early-stage chaos of building technology companies, not just observed it.
The firm focuses on early-stage, technology-driven companies, which in practice means it tends to meet founders before product-market fit is established. It was formed in 2020, so its portfolio is still relatively young by the long-cycle standards of deep tech.
If you are a pre-seed or seed-stage European founder who would value operational mentorship from people with direct company-building experience, 10x Founders is worth putting near the top of your list. If you are raising a growth-stage round or are based outside of Europe, the geographic and stage focus makes this a less natural fit.
2. 1950 Ventures
The name is the thesis. 1950 references both a pivotal year in the history of artificial intelligence and the founding year of the Indian Institutes of Technology, whose alumni have produced a disproportionate share of the world's technical founders. The firm backs AI-first companies, and its identity is built around the idea that elite technical lineage, particularly from IIT, is a meaningful signal of founder quality.
Public information on fund size and deal count is limited. What the name and stated focus communicate clearly is a conviction that deep technical credentials matter more than almost anything else at the early stage.
Founders with IIT backgrounds or strong AI-first products have the most natural alignment here. If your company is primarily a distribution or go-to-market play built on existing AI infrastructure rather than original technical work, this firm is probably not the right audience.
3. 500 Istanbul
500 Istanbul operates as a regional arm of 500 Global, a venture group that manages more than $2.7 billion in assets under management, meaning the total capital it has been entrusted to invest across all its funds. The parent platform has backed over 2,400 companies across 75 countries, which gives 500 Istanbul access to a global network that most standalone regional funds cannot match.
The firm's mandate centers on early-stage founders building fast-growing technology companies, with Istanbul and the broader Turkish ecosystem as its primary focus. Specific fund size and deep-tech sector breakdown for this entity are not publicly detailed, so the depth of its technical sector coverage is harder to assess from the outside.
For Turkish or regional Southeast European founders building technology companies at the early stage, the connection to 500 Global's international platform is a real structural advantage. Founders looking for an investor with a narrow deep-tech thesis will need to verify fit directly.
4. 7thirty Capital
Founded in 2018 by Micah Tapman, 7thirty Capital writes checks between $100,000 and $1 million into deep-tech companies, a range that places it firmly at the pre-seed and seed end of the market. Its highest period of deal activity was 2019, which suggests the fund has been relatively quiet since then. That is a meaningful data point for founders trying to assess whether a firm is actively deploying capital right now.
The check size band is specific enough to be useful. At $100,000 to $1 million, 7thirty is sized for the earliest possible institutional entry point, before most Series A investors would engage.
Founders at the idea or early prototype stage who need a small first check from a technically focused investor should explore this one. If you are raising more than $1 million in a single tranche, you will need a different lead.
5. 8 Decimal Capital
Most venture firms choose between crypto and equity. 8 Decimal Capital, founded in 2017 and based in San Francisco, runs both strategies from the same $60 million platform. It invests in tokens and in equity stakes across early-stage companies, with a team described as more than 10 venture capital veterans. The portfolio has grown to over 100 companies, a high count relative to the fund size, which points to a broad, high-volume approach rather than a concentrated one.
That portfolio density is worth holding in mind. With $60 million spread across 100-plus companies, average position sizes are small. This is a firm that bets widely across the crypto and deep-tech landscape rather than making large, conviction-heavy bets in a handful of companies.
Founders building at the intersection of deep technology and blockchain or token-based models will find few funds better structured to engage with that combination. If you are raising a large round and want a lead investor with concentrated ownership and high engagement, the math here suggests looking elsewhere.
6. 8090 Industries
Founded in 2022 by Kerem Ozmen and Rayyan Islam, 8090 Industries has moved quickly. The firm now manages approximately $1.382 billion in total assets under management across primary discretionary and advisory assets, a substantial base for a fund less than four years old. It has tracked more than 26 investments across 25 companies, a focused portfolio that signals conviction-based investing rather than spray-and-pray.
The sector mandate covers advanced manufacturing, energy, and infrastructure, three areas that sit at the heavier, more capital-intensive end of the deep-tech spectrum. These are not software-adjacent bets. They require patient capital and tolerance for long development timelines, both of which a $1.3 billion platform is better positioned to provide than a small seed fund.
If you are building in industrial deep tech, hard energy infrastructure, or next-generation manufacturing, 8090 is one of the better-capitalized dedicated investors in those categories. Early-stage software companies with a loose connection to those sectors are unlikely to be a natural fit.
7. AAF Management
AAF Management sits at an unusual intersection. Founded in 2016 and headquartered in Washington, D.C., it backs pre-seed through Series A technology companies in North America while also running a fund-of-funds operation that invests in emerging managers globally. A fund of funds is a vehicle that invests in other funds rather than directly in companies. That dual structure means AAF operates simultaneously as a direct investor and as an allocator to other managers.
The firm writes direct checks of $5 million to $10 million, a size that places it at the larger end of the seed and early Series A market. Its sector coverage spans fintech, enterprise software, digital healthcare, e-commerce, and deep tech, which is a wide net. Deep tech is one category among several rather than the firm's exclusive focus.
North American founders raising a $5 million-plus seed or Series A round across any of those sectors have genuine alignment here. If you need a smaller first check or are based outside North America, the geography and minimum check size narrow the fit considerably.
8. Abies Ventures
Abies Ventures is one of the few dedicated early-stage deep-tech funds operating out of Japan. Founded in 2017 by Fuyuki Yamaguchi and headquartered in Tokyo, it focuses on deep tech startups at the earliest stages of development. In 2025, UTokyo IPC, the investment arm of the University of Tokyo, announced a limited partner investment in Abies Ventures Fund II. A limited partner is an investor who commits capital to a fund but does not manage it day to day.
That university connection matters structurally. The University of Tokyo is Japan's most research-intensive institution, and having its investment arm as an LP gives Abies a direct channel to technical talent and research coming out of one of Asia's top science universities.
Japanese or Asia-Pacific founders in deep tech who want an investor with roots in the Japanese academic and research ecosystem will find Abies hard to match on that specific dimension. Founders outside Asia looking for a globally networked fund should weigh the geographic concentration carefully.
Let's Recap
The firms above cover a wide range of structures, geographies, and investment sizes, but a few clear clusters emerge when you compare them directly. 8090 Industries and AAF Management are the largest and most institutionally scaled options here. 8090 is entirely focused on hard industrial sectors with a concentrated portfolio, while AAF covers a broader technology mandate and combines direct investment with a fund-of-funds operation.
At the seed and pre-seed end, 7thirty Capital and 10x Founders represent two different philosophies for backing very early companies. 7thirty offers small checks with a specific deep-tech focus. 10x brings a founder-operator network through its Munich-based super angel structure. Abies Ventures fills a comparable early-stage role for Japan and the Asia-Pacific region specifically, with a university research connection that distinguishes it from most regional funds.
8 Decimal Capital stands apart for the crypto-plus-equity combination and a large portfolio count relative to its fund size. 1950 Ventures and 500 Istanbul are both harder to assess precisely from available data, but each has a clear identity: 1950 around AI-first technical founders with IIT credentials, and 500 Istanbul around early-stage technology companies in the Turkish and regional ecosystem backed by a large global platform.
For practical targeting:
- Early-stage European deep-tech founders seeking operator mentorship: 10x Founders
- Pre-seed US deep-tech companies needing a small first check: 7thirty Capital
- Industrial deep tech, advanced manufacturing, or energy infrastructure: 8090 Industries
- North American companies raising $5M-plus at seed or Series A: AAF Management
- Deep tech at the intersection of blockchain and hard technology: 8 Decimal Capital
- Japan or Asia-Pacific early-stage deep-tech startups: Abies Ventures
- AI-first founders with strong technical credentials, particularly IIT: 1950 Ventures
- Early-stage technology companies in Turkey or the regional ecosystem: 500 Istanbul
Check fund status and narrow your list with the filters above before reaching out.
For more control, Private Equity List's API and MCP tools give you direct access to every tracked deeptech VC firm so you can filter by stage, sector, and check size and review fund structure before your shortlist is final.