Deep tech VC Sidney Scott explains why he’s closing his agency as this space booms
Sidney Scott determined to take himself out of the enterprise capital rat race and is now jokingly auctioning off his vests — beginning at $500,000.
The Driving Forces solo basic accomplice introduced on LinkedIn this week that he was shutting down his $5 million fintech and deep tech VC fund that he began in 2020, calling the previous 4 years “a wild experience.” Scott was backed by restricted companions, together with entrepreneur Julian Shapiro, neuroscientist Milad Alucozai, Intel Capital’s Aravid Bharadwaj, 500 International’s Iris Solar and UpdateAI CEO Josh Schacter.
Throughout that point, he was additionally concerned in constructing the primary AI and deep tech investor community with Handwave, collaborating with traders at firms together with NVIDIA M12, Microsoft’s Enterprise Fund, Intel Capital and First Spherical Capital.
That experience included about two dozen investments into firms like SpaceX, OpenSea, Workstream and Cart.com. The entire portfolio yielded over 30% web inner charge of return, a metric measuring the annual charge of development an funding or fund will generate, Scott advised TechCrunch. Thirty % for a seed fund like that is thought of strong IRR efficiency and it outpaces complete common deep tech IRR, which is about 26%, based on Boston Consulting Group.
However a wholesome efficiency of his first, small fund wasn’t sufficient.
“This wasn’t straightforward, however it’s the precise alternative for the present market,” he wrote. 5 years in the past, when Scott had the thesis for the fund, it was a special world. Again then most traders prevented arduous tech and deep tech in favor of software-as-a-service and fintech, he mentioned.
That was for numerous causes. VCs can have a follow-the-crowd mentality and SaaS was thought of a extra of a money-making positive guess on the time. However VCs additionally prevented deep tech as a result of traders believed — maybe rightly so — that it required intensive capital, longer improvement cycles and specialised experience. Deep tech typically includes new {hardware}, however all the time includes constructing tech merchandise round scientific advances.
“Shockingly sufficient, those self same causes are the precise the reason why lots of firms at the moment are immediately investing into deep tech, which may be very ironic, however it comes with the territory,” Scott mentioned. “Everybody was investing in scale-fast, launch-fast and get-into-the-market. They have been going to spend money on these extraordinarily good individuals who would ultimately flip the science venture into an working enterprise someday.”
He’s now seeing fintech traders, who beforehand would flip him down on offers a 12 months in the past, elevating tons of of thousands and thousands of {dollars} in funds particularly focusing on deep tech.
Whereas he didn’t title names, a number of VCs who’re massive into deep tech embody Alumni Ventures, which closed its fourth deep tech devoted fund in 2023; Lux Capital which raised a $1.15 billion deep tech fund in 2023. Playground International raised over $400 million for deep tech in 2023. Two Sigma Ventures, which raised $400 million for deep tech in 2022 (and SEC data present in 2024, it raised one other $500 million fund).
Deep tech now accounts for about 20% of all enterprise capital funding as of late, up from about 10% a decade in the past. And over the previous 5 years particularly, it has “develop into a mainstream vacation spot for company, enterprise capital, sovereign wealth, and personal fairness funds,” based on a latest Boston Consulting Group report.
With rising competitors for what’s, primarily, nonetheless a small variety of arduous tech and deep tech offers, he realized it could be a problem for smaller funds like his.
That mentioned, Scott additionally believes that many of those newcomers to the world are setting themselves for “a large eye-opener inside three years” and the push into deep tech investing was too quick.
When cash pours right into a restricted variety of offers, a typical VC inflation cycle begins, the place VCs bid up the costs they’re prepared to pay for stakes, sending valuations increased and making the world dearer for everybody – prohibitively so for a solo fund like his.
In a time the place massive exits for startups have been restricted – due to the closed IPO market and the dying of curiosity in SPACs – deep tech has nonetheless had its successes in areas like robotics, or quantum computing.
He mentioned he isn’t bearish on enterprise capital, generally, or arduous tech firms, however does anticipate there to be a “bullwhip impact” in deep tech investing the place early-stage traders and VCs will rush to repeat prior breakthroughs or high-profile successes, Scott mentioned.
As is the best way with enterprise, he predicts that extra capital will entice extra traders, together with these with much less experience, and he mentioned that can then result in a surge in deep tech startups. Nevertheless, that would then create unrealistic expectations and vital stress on startups to carry out, he mentioned. And, since cycles occur typically in enterprise capital, he believes investor sentiment may shortly flip destructive ought to market situations shift.
“Given the ultra-small pool of specialists and builders, together with the capital-intensive nature of arduous tech, the part of valuation inflation will be sped up, driving up startup valuations quickly,” Scott mentioned. “This impacts all the ecosystem, inflicting funding struggles, slower improvement, and potential shutdowns, which may additional dampen investor confidence and create a destructive suggestions loop.”
