Where the world's deep tech deals are made

Nienke Dijkstra leads startup & scaleup initiatives at TNO, helping deeptech ventures turn moonshots into revenue. With a founder’s perspective, she enables tech validation, R&D collaboration and partnerships that accelerate real-world impact.

Renita is an executive coach who’s worked with 1,500+ clients in 40 countries. She specializes in helping deep tech founders become the leaders they need to be to build a successful, lasting company.

Dr.-Ing. Hannes Weinmann is Management Representative and Head of the International Technical Center at LEAD, which builds machinery for battery production. He leads LEAD’s European activities, focused on making lithium-ion battery production cheaper, more flexible and more efficient.

Nakia Melecio is Senior Research Faculty at Georgia Tech and Co-Director of the NSF I-Corps Southeast Hub. He leads programs that help researchers turn discoveries into startups and has mentored 1,500+ ventures across biotech, energy, defense, aerospace, and MedTech.

Tech CMO turned Agency Founder. ThoughtLDR helps tech companies change the world faster - with strategy, thought leadership, PR and outsized LLM visibility.

Frédéric Vacher is Head of Innovation at Dassault Systèmes, where he founded the 3DEXPERIENCE Lab in 2015 to accelerate disruptive innovations with positive impact on society. A mechanical engineer, he began his career on Dassault Aviation’s Rafale and worked for Airbus.

Jesse Robbers has been Vice President of imec and Managing Director of imec the Netherlands since May 2025. He co-founded Quantum Delta NL and held leadership roles at AMS-IX, Ericsson and KPN.

Nils Wuytens leads VITO’s deeptech accelerator and manages its annual investment budget. He drives deal flow, supports startups from validation to market entry using VITO’s technological expertise, and builds partnerships across the deeptech ecosystem.

Mohammed Abdulgaffar is Senior General Manager of Social and Entrepreneurial Initiatives at Community Jameel Saudi, where he leads StartSmart. He helps scientists turn advanced technologies into scalable startups and is shaping Saudi Arabia’s deep tech ecosystem.

Since joining MHI, he has extensive experience in corporate strategy and venturing, managing strategic investments and partnerships to drive innovation. He also acts as a board observer for clean-tech startups. He worked in Japan, UK, the Netherlands and India.

Ana Avaliani is Director of Enterprise at the Royal Academy of Engineering, leading its global entrepreneurship and commercialisation portfolio for deep tech founders. She has helped build and scale programmes for engineering-led startups tackling major societal and industrial challenges.

Christopher Reichhelm is founder and CEO of Deep Tech Leaders, an executive search firm recruiting leaders and boards for deep tech startups and spinouts. He also hosts the Lab-to-Market Leadership podcast on what it takes to bring innovation from lab to market.