Post by Techleap

🇳🇱 𝐃𝐮𝐭𝐜𝐡 𝐝𝐞𝐞𝐩𝐭𝐞𝐜𝐡 𝐟𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐝𝐞𝐫𝐬 𝐤𝐧𝐨𝐰 𝐞𝐱𝐚𝐜𝐭𝐥𝐲 𝐰𝐡𝐚𝐭'𝐬 𝐛𝐥𝐨𝐜𝐤𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐦 𝐟𝐫𝐨𝐦 𝐬𝐜𝐚𝐥𝐢𝐧𝐠. 𝐓𝐡𝐞𝐲 𝐣𝐮𝐬𝐭 𝐝𝐨𝐧'𝐭 𝐬𝐚𝐲 𝐢𝐭 𝐩𝐮𝐛𝐥𝐢𝐜𝐥𝐲. 𝐒𝐨 𝐰𝐞 𝐠𝐚𝐯𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐦 𝐚 𝐫𝐨𝐨𝐦 𝐰𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐲 𝐜𝐨𝐮𝐥𝐝. That’s exactly why Techleap hosted nearly 50 deeptech CEOs across four private, invitation-only dinners in the first half of 2026. No cameras. No filters. Under Chatham House Rules. The result? The 𝐃𝐞𝐞𝐩𝐭𝐞𝐜𝐡 𝐑𝐨𝐚𝐝𝐬𝐡𝐨𝐰 2026: 𝐅𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐝𝐞𝐫 𝐈𝐧𝐬𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭𝐬 𝐑𝐞𝐩𝐨𝐫𝐭. Co-authored by Pavel Cholakov and Davide Garufi, leads of Techleap's Future of Compute and Energy verticals, the report highlights systemic barriers, including, among others: ⚡ 𝐄𝐧𝐞𝐫𝐠𝐲 𝐢𝐧𝐟𝐫𝐚𝐬𝐭𝐫𝐮𝐜𝐭𝐮𝐫𝐞 - Energy infrastructure is the binding constraint for both the Future of Compute and Energy verticals, with grid access and affordable power cited as existential scaling challenges. 💶 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐡𝐢𝐝𝐝𝐞𝐧 𝐜𝐨𝐬𝐭 𝐨𝐟 𝐩𝐮𝐛𝐥𝐢𝐜 𝐟𝐮𝐧𝐝𝐢𝐧𝐠 - Subsidy dependency poses a risk - founders across multiple sessions challenged the true effect of public grants once time, reporting burden, and technology roadmap rigidity are factored in. 🤝 𝐄𝐜𝐨𝐬𝐲𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐦 𝐟𝐫𝐢𝐜𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 - In some cases, ecosystem intermediaries generate friction rather than flow, with founders expressing frustration at the cost and competitive behaviour of certain publicly funded institutions. 🗣️ 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐍𝐚𝐫𝐫𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐯𝐞 𝐦𝐚𝐭𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐬 - Narrative and branding matter for both corporate engagement and policy. The 'startup' label can be a barrier with large corporate buyers who perceive early-stage companies as unreliable suppliers - and how deeptech is positioned in public discourse shapes the policy environment it operates in The Netherlands holds a genuinely rare position in global compute and energy innovation. Getting the conditions right for these ventures to scale is not a niche concern - it is a national priority. 🖇️ 𝘙𝘦𝘢𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘧𝘶𝘭𝘭 𝘳𝘦𝘱𝘰𝘳𝘵 𝘷𝘪𝘢 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘭𝘪𝘯𝘬 𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘴 - 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘴𝘩𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘪𝘵 𝘵𝘰 𝘩𝘦𝘭𝘱 𝘵𝘶𝘳𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘴𝘦 𝘪𝘯𝘴𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵𝘴 𝘪𝘯𝘵𝘰 𝘢𝘤𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯. 𝘛𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘪𝘴𝘯'𝘵 𝘢 𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘤 𝘳𝘦𝘱𝘰𝘳𝘵. 𝘐𝘵'𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘳𝘵 𝘰𝘧 𝘢 𝘭𝘰𝘯𝘨𝘦𝘳 𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘴𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯.