Post by Angela Grimmer

Two days in Amsterdam. One truth Deep Tech founders keep getting wrong. This week during the MPF Accelerator On-Site and the Dutch Deep Tech Tour, I kept hearing the same message: 💡 Great technology alone does not raise funding. Market pull does. On Monday, the MPF Accelerator teams explored the topic “How to Raise your Next Funding Round” – a huge thank you to Nina, Olena, Bastian, Corentin, Juan, Luca, Dr. Nicolas, Dr.-Ing. Roland, Stefan, Thomas and Simon for sharing their own experiences and perspectives. One thing that stood out: Deep Tech founders are exceptionally good at developing breakthrough technologies. Yet many still struggle to demonstrate a large, urgent, and clearly validated market need. 💡 Investors don't just evaluate the technology. They evaluate whether there is real customer demand for it. Or as many successful founders learn fast: Fall in love with the problem, not with the solution. Key reminders: ✅ Validate the market as rigorously as you validate your science ✅Customer pull matters more than technology push This insight was reinforced again on Tuesday during my visit to the University of Twente. They have built an impressive entrepreneurial ecosystem that demonstrates the power of collaboration between researchers, clinicians, entrepreneurs, and industry. What impressed me most was the focus on rapid experimentation: giving students, researchers, and physicians the opportunity to 🔬 Test early ❌ Fail early 🔄 Iterate quickly Thank you to Jaap and team for organizing the valuable exchange (and for the warm welcome including the delicious Krentenwegge) as well as to Demcon for sharing insights into their MedTech and Defense innovations. *The MPF Start-up Accelerator is wholly owned subsidiary of the Max-Planck-Förderstiftung.