Digging deep requires staying power – and other shovels

Glück auf. In parts of Saxony, people still greet each other like this. The greeting originates from ore mining, which has been the source of wealth for entire regions for centuries: Freiberg, Annaberg, the Ore Mountains. Silver, tin, cobalt: those who dug deep got rich. Not quickly, not easily, but sustainably. DeepTech in the most original sense. Times have changed. Some of these regions are now structurally weak. But the spirit that prosperity comes from the depths, from the art of engineering, from knowledge of materials, from the willingness to drill for a long time before finding something – that has remained. And it is currently experiencing a comeback, even if Saxon modesty ensures that this is not known everywhere.

Germany differentiates start-ups by sector, but not by depth of innovation

Germany is celebrating a record year for start-ups: 3,568 start-ups were founded in 2025, an increase of 29 percent. The software sector dominated the statistics with over 850 start-ups, driven primarily by AI business models. Saxony grew by 56%, more than any other federal state. But what proportion of this is accounted for by deep tech start-ups? No one knows exactly because it is simply not recorded. The Startup Association’s figures differentiate by sector, but not by the depth of innovation. A SaaS tool that is on the market in three months and a semiconductor startup that takes years and millions of euros before the first chips are built into systems: Both count as a “start-up”. Both are valued equally. Counted the same. Equally overlooked?

The median seed round for a hardware start-up is 5 million euros

The European figures speak for themselves: 32% of all venture capital flowed into deep tech in 2025 – over 20 billion euros, a record figure. German deep tech start-ups raised 2.5 billion dollars, an increase of almost 39 percent. The market has understood what the statistics do not yet reflect: Those who innovate deeply build technologies that cannot be copied. The return will not come in 18 months, but it will come with a strategic leverage that no app start-up can offer. A look at the 30 most heavily financed semiconductor start-ups worldwide shows just how big the global gap remains: around two thirds come from the USA, while Europe is represented by a handful of British and Dutch companies. You will search in vain for a German start-up. The focus of funding is on AI inference, chiplets and optical networking; the companies are all fabless and often rely on RISC-V. Europe is strong in research and equipment, but the decisive step in scaling chip start-ups into global players is still missing. The median seed round for a hardware start-up is 5 million euros. A fraction of that is enough for software. Deep tech financing follows a different logic – with a different time horizon, a different risk profile and a different exit strategy. This must finally be reflected in funding structures and evaluation standards.

Saxony has a lot to offer in terms of content but is still not visible enough

The nominees for the Saxon State Prize for Reasons 2026 are examples of what is being created in this ecosystem: Leaftronics develops recyclable printed circuit boards for the circular economy, FlexPower printable lithium-free energy storage systems, Bio SAW acoustic sensor platforms for cardiology. 116 applications, nine finalists. FutureSAX awards the prize on June 17 in Dresden.

These are not business models that are validated in one accelerator quarter. They take years to develop. And in laboratories and in close cooperation with universities and research institutes such as Fraunhofer or Helmholtz. Saxony offers this environment not because it is currently en vogue, but because it has grown continuously. Over decades, like the semiconductor and software industry, which does not have to be announced here, but has been producing and programming for a long time. With boOst, the Startup Factory for Central Germany, a new structure is also being created to systematically promote precisely these research-related start-ups. Understandably with a focus on microelectronics, medical technology and photonics and the declared goal of doubling the number of knowledge-based start-ups in Saxony and Thuringia by 2030.

Whoever then looks at the German Startup Awards 2026 will rub their eyes: Berlin and Munich dominate among the 24 finalists. Strikingly one-sided. Saxony is missing. Not because no one starts up here, but because the evaluation criteria are optimized for rapid scaling and media visibility. Anyone working on the next generation of power electronics in Saxony or elsewhere in Germany doesn’t seem to fit into a pitch format designed for SaaS metrics and three-minute elevator pitches. The Saxon modesty does the rest: here, people prefer to work in a clean room rather than perform on stage. That is a strength – but one that still needs to be made visible. And yes, this can certainly be seen as self-criticism of Silicon Saxony.

The good news: funding structures are following suit

Away from the large central platforms and the undoubtedly noteworthy hotspot of Berlin, a landscape of formats and programs is growing that fulfil precisely this function of making things visible, tailored to hardware innovation and deep tech. The fact that the SpinLab in Leipzig has been nominated for the Global Startup Awards in the Western Europe category and is ranked second in Germany in the Financial Times ranking of European startup hubs is proof of this: The substance is there, and not just in Dresden, it just needs to be in the right shop windows. As Eric Weber, SpinLab founder, aptly analyzes in the Startup Insider Podcast: ‘The question is not who produces the most startups, but which quality metrics we apply. Startups with significant employee numbers and organic growth count differently than fast-scaled pitch-deck companies. The aCCCess Chips Venture Forum brings semiconductor startups together with investors and industry decision-makers this fall, in Bordeaux and at SEMICON Europa in Munich. The application deadline is May 12.

There is evidence of increased cooperation between France and Germany, particularly in the area of start-ups and semiconductors – and rightly so.

The EU Chips Design Platform EuroCDP provides European fabless start-ups with systematic access to design tools, manufacturing capacities and financing for the first time – an infrastructure that was previously reserved for the big players.

At the Silicon Saxony Days in June, the topic of the startup ecosystem will be addressed twice: by ignite Next, Europe’s new scale-up program for DeepTech – born from the experience of Intel Ignite, supported by Infineon, Intel and Synopsys – and by Infineon’s Robotics Startup Challenge, which is specifically looking for solutions for humanoid robotics – from virtual skin and sensor hands to environment sensing with radar and camera systems to new motor control technologies. Applications can be submitted until May 27. The fact that central semiconductor competencies converge in humanoid robotics in particular – sensor fusion, edge AI, power semiconductors, real-time capable system architectures – makes the topic a natural link between Saxony’s chip industry and the next generation of start-ups. These are formats that suit the type of entrepreneurship that is emerging in Saxony: capital-intensive, research-oriented, long-term in nature.

A look at France shows that this is not just about small niches: Mistral is investing USD 830 million in its own AI data center near Paris with 13,800 Nvidia GPUs for training and operating large AI models. The project reflects Europe’s growing desire to build its own AI infrastructure, but also the enormous amount of capital required to do so. And it shows: DeepTech in Europe is no longer a marginal topic, it is becoming an industrial policy necessity.

In the Ore Mountains, they knew: Those who dig deep not only need staying power but also different shovels than those who pan for gold on the surface. The same applies to Saxony’s DeepTech start-ups. The start-ups are there. The infrastructure is there. What we need now are the tools, the metrics, the investor structures and the visibility to do justice to this entrepreneurship. Not as a pity bonus. But as recognition of a start-up culture that focuses on depth from the outset. With this in mind: Glück auf and, as always, we look forward to your feedback, Frank Bösenberg.

🎧 You can also hear more information on these topics in episode 64 of our podcast “What’s Chippening”