Cambridge has this week taken further strides as the DeepTech capital of Europe. The continent’s ‘hottest’ accelerator, Deeptech Labs, continued its upward momentum as it unveiled five new startups for a growing stable of thoroughbreds. Advanced robotics was very much to the fore.

The organisation’s biannual Deeptech Demo Day showcased the Labs’ Autumn cohort of five pre-Series A DeepTech companies as well as welcoming back cohort alumni member Autofill.

The founders of the fresh fab five – Medwise, Perceptual Robotics, Waku Robotics, Xapien and Small Robot Company with the additional presentation from Autofill – pitched their businesses to an in-person and online audience, which included around 200 investors with more than $130 billion under management.

Deeptech Labs chose this cohort out of almost 2,000 European Pre-Series A DeepTech companies before inviting the top 0.2 per cent to join its accelerator programme.

Deeptech Labs provides access to some of the most important investors and operators in the European sector who help early stage founders build the next breakout companies.

Since its first cohort in Spring 2021, Deeptech Labs has built on its early successes by supporting 20 companies through the programme. To date, Deeptech Labs has partnered with 109 co-investors and has also had its first exit this year.

Nestwave, a pioneer of innovative geolocation solutions, participated in the Spring 2022 Cohort and was acquired by NextNav in November.

Miles Kirby, CEO of Deeptech Labs, said:

“Europe is home to 40 per cent of the world’s top universities, 20 per cent of global R & D expenditure and 21 per cent of the top scientific publications worldwide. We have all the ingredients to become the world leaders in DeepTech value creation: what’s missing is expert support for early-stage companies and access to capital. Thanks to our DeepTech-specific accelerator programme – the only one in Europe – our cohort companies are stronger, more resilient and more ambitious in their commercialisation.”

“European DeepTech is a growth sector with world-leading research and technical talent. It has the potential to solve global challenges and deliver outsized returns – that’s why so many investors attend our demo days.”

Isabela Chick, Partner, Investments and Programme who has recently joined Deeptech Labs added:

“There is an urgent need to develop and invest in the next generation of DeepTech companies whose solutions address the fundamental issues that we face as society today: security, productivity and climate. I’m excited to join the Deeptech Labs team and work with our community of strategic partners, LPs and world-renowned entrepreneurs to catalyse the next generation of European DeepTech companies.”

Isabela was formerly chief strategy officer at Founders Factory and global head of business innovation at Telefónica. She has a wealth of experience in accelerating high-growth startups and working with commercial partners to bring breakthrough technology to market.

Deeptech Labs was founded by Arm, Cambridge Innovation Capital, Martlet Capital, Ewan Kirk and the University of Cambridge – forefront institutions and individuals at the heart of the Cambridge and global technology ecosystems.