Post by TUM Venture Labs

From Prototype to Deployment: Solving the "Missing Middle" (2/3) In multiple conversations across the Boston & Cambridge ecosystem one point came up again and again: breakthrough innovation doesn't fail because of a lack of ideas❗ ❗It fails in the gap between early validation and real-world deployment❗ Especially in climate, deep tech, and life sciences, this "missing middle" is where scaling requires significant infrastructure, capital, and time! Organizations like Engine Ventures, Greentown Labs and Activate are specifically designed to support this scale-up phase! Thanks to great exchanges with Richard Collins, Alaina Hartnett, Isabelle Callaghan, Georgina Campbell Flatter, Michela Grunebaum, Emily Wilson and many others on how leading climate ecosystems foster collaboration between #startups, corporates, and #investors. 💡 Key takeaway: The most effective ecosystems don't just create #startups. They systematically de-risk the path to scale through pilots, living labs, standardization, and the right capital and partners at the right time. What this means for our work: → Building dedicated scale-up support structures for deep tech and life science startups. → Creating access models to infrastructure via labs, pilots, and testing environments. → Strengthening integration with growth-stage and deep tech investors. 🚀 Value for #startups: We are working on creating faster learning cycles, stronger commercialization evidence, and a clearer route from deeptech innovation to real deployment so great science turns into real impact! Stay tuned for part 3 or catch up on part 1 below!