Deeptech Labs and The Collider analyse the keys to a spin-out’s success

During his participation at 4YFN, Deeptech Labs’ Managing Partner, David Groom, shared together with Mobile World Capital’s technology transfer project the four key factors that determine the success of a deeptech spin-out: choosing the right CEO, raising the ambition of the scientific team from day one, understanding how venture capital works, and validating the technology in real-world environments.

Across laboratories throughout Europe, technologies capable of transforming sectors such as energy, industry, climate, or security are being developed, yet few manage to make the leap to the market. This gap between research and commercial application represents, for experts, one of the main unresolved challenges of the European innovation ecosystem.

It is precisely here that initiatives such as Mobile World Capital’s technology transfer programme, The Collider, and Deeptech Labs—a hybrid between venture builder, investment fund, and accelerator working with the University of Cambridge—come into play to support researchers from the initial idea to the creation of a scalable business.

Its Managing Partner, David Groom, visited the MWCapital stand at 4YFN to analyse the keys to spin-out success. During his talk, the determining factors for turning scientific discoveries into deeptech companies with global impact were examined.

In its five years of trajectory, Deeptech Labs has managed to support the creation of 64 spin-outs. Only one has failed for exclusively technological reasons. The rest have survived and/or thrived in an environment where risk is typically considered high.

For Groom, this demonstrates something that breaks with the traditional narrative: the real risk in deeptech does not lie in the technical aspect, but in execution. Scientists typically master the technical side, especially in the early stages of company formation, but they require support for their market entry.

Therefore, the figure of the CEO is fundamental. Not all researchers can take on this role. Leaders of deeptech companies must be able to attract talent, persuade customers, understand investors, and maintain a long-term strategic vision. “A good CEO can mobilise anyone,” explains Groom. “And that ability is just as important as the technology.”

For this reason, The Collider advocates selecting an experienced CEO independent of the scientific team, to choose the best candidate who meets all the requirements for the position. However, Deeptech Labs opts to train scientists so they can take on this responsibility.

Raising ambition as a starting point for being a good CEO

“Many researchers do not believe they can create a global business because they haven’t seen enough close examples.” In sectors where role models matter, the absence of success stories also limits aspirations.

Deeptech Labs works with scientific teams in very early stages to raise their level of ambition: identifying large markets, defining a global problem that the technology can solve, and building the necessary strategy to scale.

The objective is not limited to validating an idea, but to push the researcher towards an entrepreneurial mindset.

For this reason, supporting researchers includes questions that make them question the entire project, often uncomfortable but essential: why raise four million if twenty are needed? What competitive advantage will sustain long-term leadership? Who will be the first customer willing to validate the technology?

This pressure is not meant to discourage, but to refine the founder’s vision and reduce risks before reaching the market. “Many researchers have a brilliant technological vision but lack experience in commercial dynamics,” explains Groom. “If you don’t understand how to compete, how to sell, or how to position your product, technology won’t be enough.”

Once the strategic stage is overcome, work continues on creating a detailed execution plan: advisory board composition, technological roadmap, intellectual property strategy, hiring key talent, product milestones, and concrete steps to validate the technology with real customers.

In sectors where bringing a prototype to market can be a long and costly process, this guide acts as a map that allows progress without improvisation. The approach is practical, almost surgical: every milestone has a clear purpose and every technical decision is connected to measurable commercial objectives.

Learning to speak to Venture Capital

Another common barrier for European spin-outs is the lack of understanding of the venture capital world.

Groom insists that deeptech entrepreneurs must understand how investors think, what type of risk they are willing to take, and what it really means to build a business with the potential to generate extraordinary returns.

“A Venture Capital is not looking for early profitability; it wants you to shoot for the stars,” he states.

For this reason, it is key to teach researchers to communicate their proposal in terms that investors understand: vision, potential returns, market size, scaling strategy, sustainable competitive advantages.

Industrial validation: the necessary step to reach the market

Deeptech spin-outs require more than funding rounds: they need to validate a technology in real conditions, in the hands of a customer who contributes time and resources.

This will be the turning point that converts a scientific breakthrough into a business.

That is why it is essential to ensure that industries test spin-outs’ solutions in controlled environments. Signing a letter of intent is not enough: a real commitment from the partner is required on what they will dedicate for the technology to move forward—time, resources, and agreeing on what happens next if it succeeds.

If the partner is not willing to commit, other options must be found, options that understand the project and are willing to accompany you on the journey. “There are always other options,” Groom concludes.