EUVC #245: Max Bautin of IQ Capital on Investing in DeepTech, the Cambridge Mafia and the Cambridge ecosystem

Today we have Max Bautin with us. Max is a Founding GP at IQ Capital, a 700m€ Seed & Early Stage venture firm in London to back European Deep Tech Startups.IQ Capital is investing out of a 185 m€ Fund 4 and also has a 150 m€ Growth Opportunities fund and has an established portfolio of over 60 companies and notable investments including Thought Machine, Paragraf and Nyobolt.

Chapters:
00:00:00 - Introduction
00:01:51 - From Startups to Asset Management to IQ Capital
00:03:25 - The Cambridge Mafia in Venture Investing
00:05:05 - The Success of the Cambridge Ecosystem
00:06:49 - Why Avoiding Negative Value Added by VCs Is The Holy Grail
00:08:30 - Deep Tech vs Traditional Venture
00:10:06 - Defensibility and Scalability in Deep Tech Companies
00:11:44 - Deep Tech Investments and Hardware Integration
00:13:27 - The Growing Importance of Deep Tech
00:19:51 - IQ’s definition of Deep Tech
00:21:20 - The Productization Journey
00:22:51 - On The Duration of VC Funds
00:24:32 - Focusing on Future Opportunities
00:26:07 - Shoutout to Max's Bestie
00:27:49 - The Success of the Cambridge Ecosystem
00:29:25 - The Importance of IP and Academic Support in Innovation
00:31:05 - The Rise of Cambridge's Tech Ecosystem and Beyond
00:32:47 - Expanding into European Ecosystems
00:34:20 - Building Trust and Reputation in the European Tech Industry
00:35:54 - Quick Fire with Max