Deep Tech Investors in 2026: Four Funds Backing Frontier Founders and How to Pitch Them

Deep tech founders, meaning teams building new hardware, materials, chips, robots, defence systems or scientific software, face a narrower pool of investors than software founders do. Most generalist funds want fast revenue, and many deep tech companies need years of engineering first. This ranked list covers four funds that reported or announced capital in the past two months and say they back technical founders. The order is by reported headline size. Two sizes are in euros and two in dollars, and we have not converted them, but the order holds at any plausible exchange rate. Facts come from our filing review and from Tech Funding News and public profiles, and we flag what we could not confirm.

The Ranked List

• DCVC VII, L.P.: $653.5 million, reported in a filing dated October 8, 2026
• Expeditions Fund II: €197 million, closed and reported July 7, 2026
• Bison Ventures Fund 2, L.P.: $160.4 million, reported in a filing dated October 19, 2026
• Entourage Fund II: €100 million, announced October 29, 2026

1. DCVC VII: $653.5 Million

DCVC was founded in 2011 by Zachary Bogue and Matt Ocko and backs deep technology companies that use data and computing to solve large industrial problems. Public profiles put assets under management at about $4 billion. The filing shows $653.5 million for DCVC VII, which is the largest of the four. We found no announcement describing the fund's target or terms, so treat the filing as the only confirmed fact. The firm suits founders with technical depth and a large industrial market, such as energy, manufacturing, logistics or life sciences, and a data advantage.

2. Expeditions Fund II: €197 Million

Expeditions, based in Warsaw and London, closed its second fund at €197 million, above its original target and above a revised €150 million goal set in September 2025, according to Tech Funding News. BAE Systems committed €25 million through its Launchpad programme, and Keysight Technologies and the European Investment Fund's Defence Equity Facility are new backers, with the Polish Development Fund and the NATO Innovation Fund returning. The firm was founded in 2021 by Mikolaj Firlej and Stanislaw Kastory, and Fund I backed Alpine Eagle, Comand AI, Blackwall, Horizon Quantum and Nu Quantum. Comand AI later raised a €32 million Series A. Expeditions says its Fund I places it in the top 0.01 percent of funds worldwide using Cambridge Associates data, which is the firm's claim, and we could not verify it. It plans offices in Munich and Paris.

3. Bison Ventures Fund 2: $160.4 Million

Bison describes itself as an all-engineer firm backing frontier technology where several technical disciplines overlap. Tom Biegala and Ben Hemani founded it after working at Cascade Asset Management, and its debut fund of $135 million was announced in November 2023. Fund 2 at $160.4 million would be about 19 percent larger. The firm has not announced a second fund, so the amount is from the filing only. Public profiles list portfolio companies including Cobot, Vivodyne, Zyphra, Grid Aero and Great Sky. Bison looks for step-change gains of around ten times and is not interested in small improvements or software without deep technical differentiation.

4. Entourage Fund II: €100 Million

Entourage, based in Ghent and founded by former Showpad chief executive Pieterjan Bouten, closed its second fund at €100 million, above an initial €75 million target. It plans around 25 pre-seed and seed companies with first cheques of €1 million to €5 million, focused on AI, enterprise software, robotics, physical AI and deep tech. It is the earliest-stage fund on this list, and that matters for founders with only a prototype.

What Deep Tech Founders Should Do Differently

Tell the technical story first, then the market. Investors in this category expect a clear statement of what is hard about your problem, why it has not been solved, and what you have already proven. Evidence can be a working prototype, a benchmark result, a pilot with a named customer or a letter of intent from a large buyer. Be specific about the next technical milestone and what it will cost, because deep tech rounds are usually sized around milestones and not growth targets.

Plan for longer timelines and capital needs. Ask each investor how it handles follow-on rounds, because a company with long development cycles can need several rounds before revenue. A lead investor that holds reserves is worth more than one that writes one cheque and steps back. Know your dilution through to a Series B and check what a term sheet says about pro rata rights and information rights.

Government and strategic money can help. Expeditions has defence primes and public funds as backers, which can open doors to pilots, but it also means a defence-focused fund will expect you to understand procurement. Prepare a clean data room with patents, technical documents and export-control status before you begin due diligence.

How We Ranked

We ranked by the reported headline amount and not by performance, which is unknown for most of these funds. A bigger fund is not necessarily a better fit: a $653 million fund writes larger cheques, while a €100 million fund can take a risk on a team with a prototype. Match fund size to your round.

What We Could Not Confirm

We could not confirm cheque ranges for DCVC VII or Bison Fund 2, or whether the filing amounts reflect final closes. The Expeditions track record claim and the Entourage investor list come from the firms through Tech Funding News. Other deep tech funds exist, including growth investors like the backers of Northwood Space, and this list is not exhaustive.

Key Takeaways

DCVC VII leads by size at $653.5 million, followed by Expeditions II at €197 million, Bison Fund 2 at $160.4 million and Entourage II at €100 million. Deep tech founders should lead with technical proof, choose a fund whose size matches their round, and ask how follow-ons are handled.

Browse the investor directory to compare deep tech investors, and explore active capital on AngelLinx @ angellinx.ai/register.

AngelLinx Intelligence | angellinx.ai