Europe does not have a deep tech problem. It has a commercialisation problem.
The last European companies to reach €100B+ market caps were SAP and ASML, both founded 40–50 years ago. If Europe wants a new generation of deep tech champions, venture capital alone won’t get us there. Customers have to step in.
In this episode, Andreas Munk Holm is joined by Martin Schilling, former operator, investor, and founder of Deep Tech Momentum, to unpack why Europe excels at funding breakthroughs, but consistently fails to industrialise them.
This is a conversation about:
why enterprise buyers are the missing link in European deep tech
what corporates are doing wrong (and how they can fix it)
how founders actually win large customers in complex, regulated markets
and why courage — not grants — is Europe’s real constraint
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🎧 Here’s what’s covered:
01:15 Martin’s background: from N26 operator to deep tech ecosystem builder
01:52 What is Deep Tech Momentum (DTM)?
03:00 Why commercialisation — not capital — is the real bottleneck
04:19 The age gap: Europe’s top companies vs the US
06:26 Why US corporates acquire twice as many startups as Europe
06:54 The uncomfortable truth: Europe funds innovation others industrialise
08:54 Why corporates (not just VCs) must change behaviour
10:49 Neo-primes: the new system integrators Europe desperately needs
12:50 The four things corporates must fix to work with startups
15:06 Why startup collaboration must be CEO-owned
17:14 Buyers first: why conferences get this wrong
19:03 Money + customers: the only two things founders really need
21:27Trust, speed, and why procurement kills startups
23:25 Why trust starts inside the corporate, not with founders
27:03 Selling deep tech to enterprises & governments: what actually works
32:03 When CVCs help — and when they hurt
33:08 Enterprise sales mistakes founders keep making
38:28 Deep tech sales reality: defense, policy, and long cycles
44:57 Why DTM is not EU-funded — by design
49:07 The state’s real role: customer, not grant machine
49:23 Final takeaway: Europe needs courage, not more programs
