Investing in Deep Tech: Investor Insights

In a market defined by volatility and rapid change, deep tech stands out as one of the most resilient and transformative investment frontiers. Built on scientific discovery and engineering innovation, deep tech ventures disrupt and redefine industries.

For investors with patience, conviction, and a long-term outlook, this space offers opportunities to shape the technologies that will power the next decade of global progress.

What Makes Deep Tech Different

Unlike traditional software startups that rely on quick scaling or business-model innovation, deep tech companies are rooted in scientific breakthroughs. They often emerge from universities, research institutes, or specialized R&D centers, developing solutions in areas like quantum computing, advanced materials, biotechnology, clean energy, AI, and semiconductors.

These companies take longer to commercialize but, when successful, create durable competitive advantages and high barriers to entry. For investors, that means exposure to markets that can define entire new industries, from next-generation healthcare to sustainable food production and climate resilience.

The next decade of value and venture will come from founders working at the collision points between atoms and intelligence: materials, energy, manufacturing, and AI-driven industrial systems.

These companies take more time to build than software-only businesses, and with AI accelerating software development, the advantage increasingly shifts toward teams solving harder physical challenges. Deep tech companies create the kind of resilience, sovereignty, and real-world capability that software alone can’t deliver. Israel is uniquely strong here, translating scientific discovery into deployable technology at a pace few ecosystems can match. Deep tech isn’t just an opportunity; it’s the foundation of the future economy.”

– Shani Zanescu, Universe Partners

Israel’s Deep Tech Advantage 

Israel has quietly become one of the world’s most active deep tech hubs. The ecosystem blends scientific excellence, entrepreneurial urgency, and cross-sector collaboration. 

“Since 2019, Israeli Deep Tech startups have attracted over $28 billion in investments, representing more than one-third of all venture capital funding in the country. In the first eight months of 2025, Deep Tech funding surged to $2.5 billion and may signal a turning point after several years of decline. Israel is home to 1,400 VC-backed Deep Tech startups, including five AI unicorns and six in semiconductors. Medical Devices, Biotech & Pharma and AI are the largest Deep Tech segments in Israel by number of startups and funding.”

– Israeli Deep Tech Report 2025 IIA, dealroom.co 

Government support plays a central role in sustaining this pipeline. The Israel Innovation Authority (IIA) funds hundreds of early-stage deep tech projects every year through non-dilutive grants, R&D consortiums, and incubator programs. These initiatives reduce risk for private investors while accelerating commercialization. Specialized programs, such as the IIA Technological Incubators, pair entrepreneurs with established corporates and VCs to develop emerging technologies in areas like clean energy, advanced manufacturing, and digital health. 

With world-class R&D, government-backed programs, and a vibrant startup ecosystem, Israel is uniquely positioned to turn complex scientific breakthroughs into globally impactful technologies.”   

– Lian Michelson, GP of Marvelous VC 

Top trends that make 2026 a pivotal time to invest in deep tech

• Global realignment of innovation capital: As generalist VC funding cools, investors are refocusing on ventures with strong IP, defensible technology, and tangible impact.
• Convergence of science and software: AI and data analytics are accelerating research and development cycles, shortening the path from lab to market.
• Strategic national priorities: Governments and multinational corporations are investing heavily in deep tech to secure supply chains, energy independence, and technological sovereignty.
• Attractive valuations: Following years of inflated growth rounds, deep tech startups are now raising capital at more reasonable terms, offering stronger entry points for long-term investors.

The Opportunity for Family Offices to Invest

For family offices, deep tech offers something rare in today’s investment landscape: long-term value creation anchored in real intellectual property, measurable impact, and technology that continues to strengthen over time. Unlike short-cycle software plays, deep tech companies compound through defensible science, stronger moats, and patient capital that aligns naturally with multi-generational strategies. This is a chance to participate in solutions that improve global resilience, while building a portfolio that reflects purpose, durability, and meaningful economic upside.

Deep tech requires patience, but it also rewards vision. These are the technologies that will power global food systems, deliver clean energy at scale, and enable life-saving medical breakthroughs. Investors who enter today are helping to build the infrastructure of the future.

As Israel continues to lead in scientific innovation and applied technology, opportunities in deep tech offer both economic and societal return. With the right partners and long-term perspective, family offices and global investors can play a defining role in advancing solutions that make tomorrow possible.