Applied AI Pod

Deep tech startups, VC investments, and deep problems, E25

Episode Summary

The entrepreneurs/scientists in the deep tech space are not put off by big problems—or the time and effort it takes to solve them or make a deep tech startup run. At the same time, there has been no shortage of venture capital infusion into small companies focused on deep tech. At the same time, governments around the world understand the shift and the role of the new AI technologies and support new tech R&D more. We continue the conversation of the two worlds - VCs and deep tech founders - with two main actors in this space: > Alexander Piskunov - partner of the San-Francisco based VC fund Ruvento Ventures, a deep-tech venture capital fund, specialising on AI, robotics and quantum computing investments in emerging markets. > Amandine Flachs - CEO & co-founder of WildMeta - AI for video games, supporter of early stage startup founders for the past 10yrs, and a VC scout for UK-based BackedVC. Two worlds in one episode. Without further ado: hope you enjoy it!

Episode Notes

• 01:35 - Why did you decide to continue bootstrapping and decided to not opt for an investment.
• 06:50 - In the age of the million dollar supremacy how much money is a VC ready to invest.
• 08:56 Open source AI, good or bad idea? - VC and deep tech founder perspective.
• 14:15 - What’s the ideal shareholder split?
• 20:40 - Should one opt for Europe instead of Silicon Valley to raise capital faster?
• 23:10 - Effects of the pandemic on the deep tech investment space.
• 29:10 - Do VCs run their due diligence in their investment process + should VCs start considering checking reddit channels from now on?
• 32:45 - The gap between early stage deep tech startups and investments.
• 41:30 - Time, as an essential factor, in a deep tech startup  - time from idea to prototype.
• 49:45 - How is a founder coping with the long development cycle from a cost / business model perspective.
• 55:00 - Pre-seed to seed stage, where is the role of AI/ML: core, feature, end-to-end, black box.
• 59:10 - How much is reusing vs. proprietary AI work.
• 01:01:15 - What does a VC scout do?

Reference links:

Alexander Piskunov's LinkedIn

Amandine Flachs' LinkedIn

Amandine Flachs' Twitter

Venture Capital Scout Programs