We are investing in the picks and shovels for the digital world
Early-stage VCs tend to focus on traditional business models being disrupted by technology. Bloc focuses on the underlying enabling technologies which are market disruptive, with strong defensible IP and the potential to scale globally.
Europe offers some of the most exciting and innovative deep technology prospects but has had a history of being unable to commercialise those technologies on a global scale. Many of these technologies are coming out of the world-leading universities based here in Europe. This underserved technology landscape tends to be undercapitalised due to the view that deep tech is risky, but with our experience and approach we are able to capitalise on the attractive high return characteristics of deep tech with minimal competition from other VCs.
Deep-tech investment has similar characteristics to other established industries, such as pharmaceuticals and oil & gas, which makes it highly attractive from an investment point of view. The large technology industry players see ‘off balance sheet’ Research and Development taking place at start-ups, acquiring them only once the business has been de-risked and once the companies growth can be significantly accelerated through the acquirers own sales channels. A key part of our approach is to identify those potential commercial exists prior to investment.
Our deep tech investments to date include HPC computing, post-quantum-computing security, software-defined networks, fixed wireless access, wireless channel coding, cloud video security, and the Internet of Things.
