E705 | Martin Schilling, Deep Tech Momentum: Why Europe’s Deep Tech Problem Isn’t Funding

Mar 4, 2026

Martin Schilling, former operator and investor now building Deep Tech Momentum to accelerate commercialization in Europe. He explores why customers, not funding, are the missing link. Short takes cover corporate procurement failures, buyers-first marketplaces, CEO-owned innovation, and how trust and enterprise contracts can turn breakthroughs into industry leaders.

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INSIGHT

Old Corporates Reduce Startup Collaboration

Europe's top companies are much older than US peers, which reduces external collaboration agility.
Martin notes the top 10 European firms average 87 years vs ~34 in the US, adding bureaucracy that hinders startup partnerships.

ADVICE

CEO Ownership For Startup Partnerships

Make startup collaboration a CEO-owned priority linked to P&L impact.
Martin demands C-level sponsorship and measurable revenue or cost impact within ~9–12 months to move pilots into adoption.

ADVICE

Reduce Procurement Friction And Move Fast

Build trust with startups by creating internal capabilities and fast decision processes.
Martin warns procurement delays and uncertainty kill deals; corporates should enable quick POCs and clear paths to multi-year adoption.

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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

🎧 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