The EIC Scaling Club, an EIC Business Acceleration Service, has published a report that reveals the top go-to-market challenges European deep tech scale-ups estimate to face over the next 12 months.
According to the report, the top challenge will be securing and engaging customers. Other key challenges include sales, business expansion, market positioning, and operational efficiency. The study is based on in-depth interviews, workshops, and surveys with 43 European deep-tech scale-ups, investors, corporations, policymakers, and more.
To see the full report, visit this link.
Unique challenges and opportunities in deep-tech
Deep-tech scale-ups face unique hurdles, from lengthy development timelines to complex technologies and substantial capital requirements. Despite these challenges, the sector presents significant opportunities and has attracted considerable investor attention, with over $52 billion (€47.7 billion) in venture capital raised in 2020-2022.
"The report provides data-driven insights into some of the challenges faced by European deep-tech scale-ups. It also showcases possible paths and actionable recommendations to help companies develop and optimize their go-to-market strategies – something that only 29% of top executives, including Europe-based, have implemented effectively. By sharing this knowledge, we want to empower both companies and supporting stakeholders to make informed decisions and drive growth within the European deep-tech ecosystem."
– Josemaria Siota, Executive Director of the Entrepreneurship and Innovation Center at IESE Business School
Priority actions and stakeholder misalignment
The report also reveals the most common actions scale-ups plan to implement to tackle the key challenges identified. The actions include increasing customer reach, improving market forecasting, growing their sales teams, investing in product marketing, and optimizing metrics to guide business decisions.
However, there's a misalignment with what key stakeholders see as priorities – they place a higher value on assessing competition, optimizing business models, achieving production scalability, brand standardization, and setting and optimizing metrics to guide decisions.
Understanding the misalignment between European deep-tech companies and their stakeholders is crucial for mitigating potential misunderstandings and barriers to innovation, fostering more effective collaboration in a rapidly evolving technological landscape.
About the report
The “European Deep-Tech Scaleups: Go-To-Market Strategy” report is the first in a series of 10 studies analyzing challenges deep-tech ventures face during their growth journey – from commercializing their innovation and growing the business to ensuring attracting investment and contributing to the ecosystem.
See the “European Deep-Tech Scaleups: Go-To-Market Strategy” report by accessing the EIC Scaling Club Reports page and clicking on 'Read now'.
About the EIC Scaling Club
The EIC Scaling Club, an EIC Business Acceleration Service, is a curated community of 120+ high-growth European deep-tech companies. Launched in 2023, the Club brings together some of the region's top deep-tech ventures with relevant investors, corporates, policymakers, and other stakeholders to spur their growth.
The EIC Scaling Club is an EIC-funded initiative implemented by Tech Tour, Bpifrance (EuroQuity), Hello Tomorrow, Tech.eu (Webrazzi), EurA, and IESE Business School.
DISCLAIMER: This information is provided in the interest of knowledge sharing and should not be interpreted as the official view of the European Commission, or any other organisation.